Dear Elsa
by Saiberia
Summary: In the wake of her parents' death, Anna is whisked off away to the Countess Elsa of Arendelle, who has been entrusted with her care. Though a bit put off by her childhood friend's aloofness, Anna finds herself drawn to the allure of the reclusive Countess. However the Countess, her manor, and the forests surrounding them harbor greater mysteries than Anna could have imagined.
1. Ace of Coins

_A/N: So hi, uhm. I'm apparently incapable of writing anything thats not a period AU. So hiya, its 1800s this time. I was considering making it in London during the Victorian Era, but it'll take place in multiple countries, but mostly Austria. I'm getting inspiration from a variety of books and interactive stories. If you can catch the references you get brownie points. Anyway, this is going to be dark fantasy. Most definitely Elsanna, they're unrelated this time. There's some fluff in the first chapter so hey a running start. Please R&R, I'd really like to hear people's thoughts. _

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><p><em>Our Dearest Anna,<em>

_We hope for your memories of us not to be soiled by the bleakness of our remaining days together, but instead remember fondly the times we so enjoyed. Our last thoughts were of you, and we wish for you not to linger in the past pain of bygone days, and instead face the morning light with a high head and bright eyes. _

_As such, living arrangements have been arranged to ensure your comfort and livelihood. You do remember darling little Elsa, do you not? As it so happens, she shall soon be named Countess of Arendelle, having received the title passed down to her from her late parents. Much of our wealth and property has been put under her care by the time being, and shall be passed on to you in a years time when you come of age. _

_Do be kind to Elsa, she longs for a companion. Her reclusive tendencies do seem to get the better of her, and she tends to isolate herself for extended periods of time. She does so miss you, however, and has asked about your well-being numerous times over the course of our correspondence. While the transition may be awkward and shaky at first, do remember she has shouldered the burden of political turmoil and upstanding for many years now, following the deaths of her parents. _

_We only wish for your good health, and we both love you very, very much. We hope that you can understand the decision we have made in entrusting you to Elsa for the time being, and our arrangement with her included a joint-ruling that shall commence during the day of Elsa's official coronation as the Countess of Arendelle. _

_In this same envelope we have entrusted our Last Will and Testament to both you and Elsa, and we hope for the very best in your future endeavors. Anna, we love you very, very much and do wish we could remain by your side as you blossom into the beautiful young woman we so believe you will be. May your future remain bright and unhindered in the wake of our deaths, and please, live well. _

_Sincerely yours, forever and always,_

_Your Mother and Father_

Alone in the room sat Anna, her hands steadily holding the paper in her hands, her eyebrows furrowed into a look of confusion. Not but a day ago had her parents's funeral occurred, after their tragic passing from Typhoid, and already curt messages of inheritances and the ilk were shoved in her face. To think, such a flimsy piece of yellowed paper adorned with shakily written words could seal her fate in such a permanent manner.

She slipped her gloved hand into the envelope, removing yet another piece of folded paper and gazing at its contents with bated breath.

_I, Henrik Sheridan, an adult residing at Doolin, Ireland, being of sound mind, do declare this to be my Last Will and Testament. I revoke all wills and codicils previously made by me._

_I appoint the Countess Elsa as my Personal Representative to administer this Will, and if she is unwilling or unable to serve, then I appoint my daughter Anna to serve as my Personal Representative, and ask that she be permitted to serve without Court supervision._

_I direct my Personal Representative to pay out of my residuary estate all of the expenses of my last illness, administration expenses, all legally enforceable claims, all estate taxes, inheritance taxes, and all other governmental charges imposed by reason of my death without seeking reimbursement from or charging any person for any part of the taxes and charges paid, and if necessary, reasonable funeral expenses, including the cost of any suitable marker for my grave, without the necessity of an order of court approving said expenses._

_I devises, bequeath, and give my total wealth and property to the Countess Elsa of Arendelle, in the country of Austria, to handle and maintain until my only daughter, Anna, turns eighteen years of age. _

_Should Elsa not survive me by 30 days, custody of my wealths and properties will be handed over to government until Anna turns of age. _

Anna swallowed the words on the crumpled paper as she gazed at the black suitcase filled to the brim with what little belongings she could still truly call her own. 'Elsa' this, and 'Elsa' that, she scoffed inwardly, the very idea of her distant childhood friend controlling her entire family's collected wealth was incredulous to her. All she could do was fold the papers neatly into her dress pocket and drag her leather suitcase down to await the carriage that was sure to come. How she'd miss the lively shores of Ireland, with the gulls chittering and the people indulging themselves in all manners of fun. How she'd miss the island home she was so used to, hidden away farther mainland and accessible only by a small boat. To be torn from her home of fifteen years and pulled to some manner of schloss hidden away in the frigid alpine mountains of Austria, oh how she steeled herself for the shocking change in environment that was sure to come.

Though while she was steadily wondering about what manner of castle would be located in such an isolated area of the country, a loud _clacking_ of hooves against cobblestones echoed through the fairly empty nighttime boards of the small dock she awaited at. Anna glanced up to see a pair of stalwart, black horses trotted abley up to the building she was waiting before. As the carriage came to a gentle stop, a portly man dressed in black and navy finery hobbled out from inside, dabbing his face with a white handkerchief emblazoned with some pastel blue symbol.

"You must be miss Anna." he stated, gently taking the suitcase and waving off whatever help Anna attempted to give him. "The Countess has been speaking very highly of you for weeks indeed." the man chuckled, fiddling with the lapels of his jacket as he opened the door for Anna. "The entire manor has been renovated thanks to her incalculable desire to impress you, my lady. She is quite taken with you."

"Thank you, sir." Anna whispered, ducking her head under the top of the carriage and hoping sincerely her clumsiness wouldn't show as she entered. After a smooth transition inside the carriage, with a _click_ of the door shutting, her heart began to slow as she allowed the tension to ebb from her consciousness. How she did hope not much conversation would be sparked through the ride, simply wishing to board the boat and arrive at the castle in a timely manner. This of course wouldn't be occurring for several days, so her dreamy mind ran rampant with a myriad of fantasies involving the hidden magics of the castle and the idea of exposure to more than a handful of people. And while the sting of her inheritance and the heartbreak of her loss still prickled at the edges of her heart, the only power she had was that over her own mind and person; and so then and there she decided to take her parents' advice and look forward, to new days, and new times.

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><p>Nothing could be more picturesque nor solitary, Anna decided, as the umpteenth carriage she had been in for the past two weeks carted her through the vivid green landscape of the Austrian countryside. Higher and higher in altitude the carriage pulled on, where the forests grew thicker and the shade grew darker. The stone paths turned to finer dirt paths as they advanced onward through the trees that seemed to stretch higher and higher into the sky.<p>

The road suddenly became very old, and very narrow. Before her through the thick stretch of trees lay a drawbridge, to which the horse gracefully trotted upon, towards the many windowed schloss with its spindly towers and Gothic chapel. Beneath the drawbridge bustled snowy-white swans that swam between the water lilies that stuck out through the water in a calculated position as if it were some flowery maze.

Before the gates lay a homely glade, with all manners of wildflowers poking out from the viridian grasses. The aura of loneliness emanating from the schloss was almost suffocating as Anna fought back the growing nervousness that fluttered within her chest.

"Is it always this lonely?" Anna murmured as she gazed out the window into the melancholy area.

"Yes, indeed." stated the portly man, who had days ago introduced himself as Kai, one of Elsa's most trusted hands. "The nearest inhabited village is a good seven miles off."

"Nearest _inhabited_ village?" Anna pointed out, catching the subtlety in the man's words.

"Yes, well… About three miles westward of our manor lies a village of Karnstein, the owners of which have long since died out and the village itself has fallen into quite a state of disarray." the man stated. "Its once quaint church is now roofless, and the desolate château overlooks the ruins of the town. It is not a safe place, my lady." he grumbled, visibly uncomfortable by the mention of the odd little Karnstein. "I'd advise you not go there."

"I shall take the utmost care not to venture there." Anna nodded, though secretly inside she made it a point to someday investigate the strange ruins of Karnstein. And while she would've been perfectly content daydreaming about whatever supernatural encounter she would face in the ruins, the carriage came to an abrupt stop and the shuffling of boots and cloth forced Anna's mind to stray back into reality. Kai shifted in his seat and clicked open the latch of the carriage door, hobbling down the steps and holding a hand out to Anna. She took it and allowed herself to be tugged onto the gravelly courtyard of Arendelle Manor, her eyes narrowed against the brilliant summer's sunset, shifting uncomfortably at the melancholy mood brought by the orange sunglow.

"Are you all right, my lady?" Kai inquired. "You seem a bit… distracted, if I may."

"No, no. I'm all right." Anna tore her gaze away from the golden fire that was the sunset-stained sky. "I was just… admiring the view." she chuckled, tucking an invisible strand of hair behind her ear in a tell of awkwardness.

"I see. Well do hurry along to the garden." he nodded towards a small gate that was position between a thick hedge; an extra addition to the overall storybook flavor of the manor Anna had found herself in. "The Countess is generally in the gardens, and I'm sure she's simply too eager to see you."

"But my suitca-"

"Nonsense! That's why I'm here." chuckled the man. "Now do run along now; the poor woman is probably already anxious enough that it took us several days to return here. I'm sure she's been pacing to and fro through the hallways each night."

"Does she do that?" Anna giggled, an unfamiliar warmth blossoming inside of her.

"Yes, indeed. She'll spend all night pacing if she's particularly nervous. Oh, how she scared the poor serving girl when she suddenly paced from the shadows. She does have the strangest tendencies, but you'll have to excuse her because she does everything she can. She really does." he mused, nudging Anna in the shoulder with his elbow. "Now do run along before we spend the entire evening simply talking about the Countess!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Anna giggled as she trotted off towards the hedge. A flowering nervousness bubbled inside of her as her hands trembled against the black iron handle. She simply stood there and admired the vines that snaked up and around the intricately designed gate, wondering what exactly she was going to say to Elsa, the little girl whom she hadn't seen in years. Had she changed? Did she still like chocolate? Why did she never respond to her letters? All manners of questions swam around Anna's head, but she simply shook them off as she pressed confidently upon the handle and allowed herself through the natural archway.

Before her, the storybook nature of the manor seemed to increase exponentially while before her lay all manners of beautifully tended flowers. Each single flower had a personality at its owned that seemed to whisper and tickle at the very fiber of Anna's being, and she could barely make her way through the outskirts of the garden, which spiraled around a magnificent glass building that was modeled after some Taj Mahal, Anna believed. Oh, how she could've stood there forever, admiring the ballroom of petals and leaves that were arranged before her, the sweet scent of their nectar wafting into the air and delighting Anna even further.

Almost as if the being embodied the flowers that encompassed her, a woman in a high-collared dress colored navy blue and gold stood in the middle of the glass building, her back turned to Anna as her gloved hands gently ran across the snow white flowers she was tending to. Anna swallowed hard at the striking familiarity of the woman, all the nervousness of minutes ago suddenly flooding into her body at tenfold. Oh how the woman gently watered the neighboring flowers with such grace and care, that one could be convinced that they were of her family. How Anna shuddered wonderfully at the thought of being cared for in such an intimate manner, but at the sudden shock of such thoughts she quickly dismissed them and headed for the entrance to the transparent palace.

At the opening of the door, Anna was suddenly faced with such a thick humidity that she felt as if someone were smothering her with ten fleece blankets. She swallowed the thick air before clumsily bending around the circular maze of flowers within and searching for the woman. Clearly she had underestimated the inner size of the building, for she suddenly found herself lost within the miniature jungle, gulping loudly as she searched for some indicator of the exit. Stumbling backwards as she attempted to peek through the plants, she tripped over some manner of garden utensil and found herself falling backwards, slamming hard onto the ground and cutting her finger on some sharp thing. Anna moaned in pain as sudden footsteps were heard slapping across the smooth ground, a rather flustered looking woman standing before her.

"Anna!?" she gasped, quickly rushing to her side and sliding down to help her up. "Anna, when did you arrive? Are you hurt? What happened?" she asked, worry apparent on her face as she helped Anna to her feet.

"Oh gosh, how embarassing." Anna mumbled, her cheeks turning a pretty shade of crimson.  
>"I'm already making a fool of myself, and I haven't even gotten a chance to say a word to you yet." she laughed self-deprecatingly, glancing to the ground in shame.<p>

"No, no. Not at all." Elsa sighed, glancing down and becoming startled at the sight of red on Anna's hand. "You're hurt! Oh, Anna. I'm so sorry." she murmured, bringing the girl's hand closer for inspection.

"No, no. It's fine, it's ju- oh." Anna gasped as Elsa's cool lips came into contact with the palm of her hand, gently sucking at the vermilion liquid that oozed from the cut Anna had accidentally self-inflicted. She found herself blushing wildly at the woman before her, whose eyes were closed as she gently ran her tongue across the open wound, leaving a wake of cool saliva as she removed her mouth from the wound and pulled a white handkerchief that had been retrieved from her dress pocket, pressing it gently against the wound as she tied the cloth strip around Anna's hand.

"We have a medical kit in the house." she murmured gently, her lips suddenly far rosier than they had been before. "Pardon my forwardness, but I'm simply worried about the wound becoming infected." she admitted, letting go of Anna's hand and nervously bringing her gaze up to meet the girl's before her.

"N-No! Not at all. It was just… a surprise." Anna averted her gaze, tucking a hair behind her ear. "Not a negative one! I was just, erhm, taken aback, is all. Oh, I'm rambling. I'm sorry. It's been so long, Elsa." she whined, taking Elsa's gloved hands into her own and sighing wistfully. "I have so much to ask you, to talk to you about…"

"Everything will be explained, Anna. I promise." Elsa smiled gently, rubbing her thumbs affectionately against Anna's hands before tugging her along through the flowery maze. "Though not before we straighten that wound out, and I make you a cup of tea. I'm sure you're tired after that journey."

"Oh, you have no idea."

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><p>The manor interior was gothic and dark, the wood furnishings and walls being a dark mahogany color. Though, there were fresh flowers blooming in porcelain vases at every corner of the manor. There was a staircase leading to the top floor in the main room she was led through, having been gently nudged into the den area. The den, while cosy and homely and complete with comfortable furniture and brilliant paintings and golden candle holders, was even darker than the main room. So while the beauty of the manor never stopped amazing Anna, she couldn't shake the intruding sense of loneliness that clawed at her throat. As it seemed, the inside of the manor was much lonelier than the outside.<p>

And while Anna was left to her thoughts, the Countess left her to wait in the den while she retrieved the medical kit. She rather liked the woman that Elsa had grown into, despite not having seen her for a good many years. Her gaze found itself returning time and time again to the handkerchief wrapped gently around her hand, a strange buzzing in chest chest shaking her to her very core as the memory of Elsa's cool tongue sliding across her skin remained raw in her mind.

Her train of thought was suddenly derailed as the sound of footsteps came nearer. Elsa promptly sat by Anna's side, having returned with a bottle of whiskey, some bandages, and a hand cloth. Deftly she untied the handkerchief from Anna's hand, discarding the bloodied cloth to the side and pouring some of the whiskey onto the hand cloth she had brought.

"I apologize if this stings a bit." Elsa murmured, gently taking Anna's hand into her own and keeping her gaze downwards. She gently slid the whiskey-drenched cloth onto the wound, dabbing at it gently and cleaning it of any dirt or infectants that could have been there. Anna winced at the stinging sensation of the alcohol upon the wound, receiving a soft, murmuring apology from the countess.

"What good will a drop of whiskey do?" Anna whimpered.

"Ahhhh…" Elsa chuckled softly. "And what did they teach you in Ireland? How do the Irish disinfect their wounds?"

"Why… oxygen is a disinfectant. The air around us." Anna replied innocently.

"I see." Elsa sighed, shaking her head. "What nonsense. Leaving a wound to fester like that is exactly what won't disinfect it." gracefully she unravelled the clean, sterile bandages and wrapped them gently around the wound, placing an innocent kiss upon Anna's palm before smiling up at the girl. "There. You're all better now."

"Th-thank you." Anna whispered, gently taking her hand back and flexing it beneath the bandages. Truth be told, the wound did feel a lot better after having been cleaned with the whiskey, and it hadn't really stung all that much, though Anna suspected it was due to the fact Elsa took the utmost care in being gentle with her.

"I'll get some tea then, and then I shall do my best to answer any questions that you have." Elsa kept her hands tucked in close to her person, and her gaze averted as she stood up and left the room in a few graceful movements. Anna sighed and ran her fingers over the bandages after Elsa left. The soft cotton gently hugged her skin with an impossible form of gentleness that could never be administered by anyone else, thought Anna. A strong scent of whiskey still protruded from her hand as the after-sting left the torn skin throbbing slightly.

While she was left alone in the room, she decided to take the chance to explore the area a little more. At the back of the room hung a massive painting of a man in a regal cloak, holding some sort of golden chalice and baton. Underneath the painting stood a small table covered in all manner of strange objects, two of which she recognized to be the chalice and the baton. However, on one portion of the table was a perfectly circular spot surrounded by dust, as if something had been recently moved.

"I see you're admiring my father." Elsa suddenly said. Anna jumped in surprise and looked back, noticing Elsa placing a tray on top of the small table she had tended her wound at.

"Yes he's… very imposing. Not quite the man I remember." Anna giggled, making her way back to sit next to Elsa.

"Ah well, he'd become a little more… docile, after his coronation as Count." Elsa admitted, pouring a deep, pink tea into two porcelain teacups. Anna sighed happily as the scent of strawberries filled the air, the warm steam rising up to her nostrils as she blew on the top. "I did bring chocolates too." Elsa motioned towards the small tin with a small gesture. "I do remember how much you loved chocolates."

"Thank you, Elsa. You've been very kind to me. But… why you?" Anna asked, tilting her head as she popped one of the chocolates into her mouth. "I mean, there are others, and I have many family members that are still alive." she swallowed, holding back the raw emotions she had suppressed for days now, losing herself in fantasy rather than acknowledging her recent loss.

"It's okay to cry, Anna." Elsa frowned, setting her teacup down. "As for why you were entrusted to me rather than anyone else, well…" Elsa's cheeks colored for a split second, though Anna was convinced it was because of the steam. "They felt as if I'd be more suited to protecting and caring for you. While I don't mean to be rude, but many members of your family aren't as… financially stable as I am."

"I-I see." Anna nodded. "That does make sense. Sorry I-..." she placed her teacup down and sighed, her bottom lip trembling. "I just… It was strange. Receiving such a curt letter that essentially sealed away my fate for the next three years, and I… Just a part of me believes that this is some vacation. And my parents will be back home to greet me when I go back, but there is not going back, and… I…"

Anna was suddenly interrupted by the cool arms of Elsa who had moved closer to her. Again, Anna was struck by her forwardness, but she found that she rather liked it when Elsa was forward, and for the first time in several days, she cried.

The cries she emitted weren't some half-hearted sobs or sniffles of a wounded child, but the mournful wails of a young girl whose life had turned upside down. She clung to Elsa as if she were her only lifeline, staining the woman's clean dress with her fresh tears. Elsa didn't utter a single word, and instead held Anna close to her body, laying soft, affectionate kisses against the girl's head as she cried.

How much time had passed, Elsa didn't know. But the golden sunset had eventually seeped into a blue darkness that wrapped the lonely manor in a blanket of shadows, and the grandfather clock sprung to life at some hour in the night. Anna had eventually drifted off in her arms, eyes swollen and puffy, her vulnerable form curled up close to Elsa for comfort and security. Elsa simply wrapped her arms securely around Anna's sleeping form, lifting her up into her arms and making her way towards the upper rooms. Anna's head lolled against the chest of the countess, unconsciously cuddling closer as tiny whimpers and moans that resonated with heartbreak were uttered from her rosy lips.

As Kai passed by Elsa carrying the girl, he offered in silent gestures to take her to her room for her, to which Elsa simply declined, gliding up the stairs with all the regality of a noble. Truth be told, the warmth of the girl's body against hers awakened a spark within her chest of a foreign kind, a kind of warmth akin to some manner of hearthfire. Oh how the warmth she felt comforted her, how used to the burns of pain and anguish she was. She quickly acknowledged her growing adoration for the girl in her arms, gently pushing the door to the recently tidied up room open.

She had decided early on, when the idea of Anna living under her care was pitched, that she would fix the nicest room she had up for her. This entailed the largest window in any of the rooms, with a perfect view of the forest and fields. The window overlooked the giant greenhouse that stood in the face of whatever celestial light was pouring from the sky as well, the moon and starlight bouncing from the well polished glass in every direction.

Elsa stood there, momentarily mesmerized by the snow white light that poured in from the windows, illuminating the room in an ethereal icy blue glow. Though she was promptly torn from her hypnosis by the moans of Anna, who shivered away from the blue light of the moon and deeper into the arms of Elsa. The Countess simply shuddered at such close contact, something she hadn't felt in years, and violently tore her simple desires in half as she leaned over the bed and lay Anna atop it, tucking her lovingly into the covers.

Just as she was about to leave, the desire for closeness came down full throttle as her body recognized the sudden loss of warmth. So before she left, she hesitantly came forward and leaned down to the sleeping form of Anna and placed a lingering kiss against the girl's forehead. A shock that felt akin to electricity ran through Elsa's body as her lips came in contact with warm skin. She pulled away quickly, startled by the sensation, and simply turned and headed towards the door.

"Oh." she whispered to herself. "One last thing to do." she murmured, eyeing the empty vase that stood on the nightstand next to Anna's bed.

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><p>Anna awoke about an hour later, the moon still ripe in the sky as the icy blue glow momentarily stunned her. She sat up and examined her surroundings, wondering exactly how she got to be in that room in the first place.<p>

"Right." she whispered, touching her less-swollen eyes. "I've come to Elsa's. And I… Sobbed into her arms." she groaned, hiding her face in embarrassment. "What a fool I made of myself."

After a good few minutes of wallowing in her own embarrassment, Anna looked up around the room, sincerely taking in her surroundings this time around. At her left was a small nightstand with a white vase; pastel green patterns painted precisely upon the milky white. In the vase itself were nestled a bouquet of pink and white gloxinia flowers, their presence bringing a soothing sweet scent to her portion of the bed. Aside from the flowers, the room was fairly bare. There was a small desk with a chair, and a gorgeous window, which overlooked a majority of the outside of the manor, including the glass palace. However there was one thing that seemed a little out of place, which was a rather bland painting of a boat in the water. It was nicely done, beautiful in fact, it was just… bland.

Anna shuffled out of bed and looked at the painting, running her fingers over the frame. While her fingers glided over the polished wooden frame, her fingers suddenly slid over an imperfection. Or, no… It was words. She picked the painting off of the wall and squinted her eyes at the etching, trying to make out some of the words.

"I've begun my voyage in…" Anna mumbled to herself, reading out the words. She tried to make out the rest of the sentence, but it was all scrawled out. Disappointed, she placed the painting back onto the nail it hung on. She was just about to crawl back into bed when something at the corner of her eye stuck out;

a letter.

Anna picked it up and examined the yellowed paper. An emerald green wax seal broken in two was pasted on it, and it look quite old. She flipped it open and glanced at the first words. '_Dear Elsa'_, it said. Deciding it would be best to look it over in the warmth of her blankets, squinting her eyes to read it with the moon's light, she crawled back into bed and read the letter to herself.

_Dear Elsa, _

_I feel as if this island is born of my own whimsical fantasies. I wonder how exactly I have come to be here, in this situation, landed here of my own volition. Am I deserving? Is this truly the way it's supposed to go? I realize eventually this faded piece of parchment will lay forgotten in some dark corner of the court, though I'll hope someday, some person could find some remnant of it and learn of you. I return each time leaving fresh markers that I hope, in the full glare of my hopelessness, will have blossomed into fresh insight in the interim._

_Don't forget; _

_some things mustn't be forgotten._

_~ Spr.C_

Anna stared at the letter in disbelief. Did Elsa harbor a secret lover? Were there more of these letters? What sort of peculiar person would sign themselves as 'Spr.C'? Was it a name, or was it a title?

Anna swallowed hard and folded the letter back up, slipping it under her pillow as she curled up. _It seems there is more here than a simple, lonely manor and an equally lonely Countess_, Anna thought as she looked out the window, her eyes fluttering shut as she resolved to learn of more of the mysteries that encompassed Manor Arendelle.

And as she fell asleep, the soothing scent of the gloxinia flowers reminded her that whatever mysteries she would uncover in this manor, Elsa was still her childhood friend. She was still the woman who resolved to care for her, and she was still the Countess.

_The Countess. _


	2. Two of Coins

_A/N: Oof. February break finally. Expect more frequent updates. And for anyone following Golden, don't worry, chapter 5 will be up tomorrow. Anyway! More manor weirdness, more Elsanna fluff. Don't worry, I have a plan for this story. It might be super ambitious but whatever. I can handle it. Probably._

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><p>There were a fair number of peculiar habits that Anna had observed transpire within the confines of the manor. Such as every morning she'd wake up and a new type of flower or plant would be tucked snugly into the porcelain layers of the china vase. It was a game to her now, really, to mindlessly check up on all of the peculiar day-to-day things she'd find. Elsa, after the first day, would generally lock herself up in the highest floor of the manor, only to exit to continue on with these peculiar habits. To Anna's disappointment, this of course meant she didn't see much of the countess.<p>

Anna allowed a lazy yawn to rumble from her throat, taking the ebony brush off of her nightstand and tugging at the wild forest of unruly ginger that sat upon her crown. As she brushed away at the tangle, she glanced at the china vase.

"Bells of Ireland…" she mumbled out. It was one of the only plants she could identify. She was getting better at learning the flowers though, as one of the things she used to amuse herself in the increasingly lazy days was the garden, and a companion book that listed the various flora. It was a journal she had found on her fifth day at the manor inside an odd outdoor closet.

The closet looked like it hadn't been open in years, and it probably hadn't if the rusted padlock had been anything to signify. It had taken a few good kicks and some yanking on Anna's part to get the thing off. However, the peculiar little journal with its weathered leather bindings and its yellowed parchment with intricately written descriptions of the plant life in the surrounding area accompanied by well-drawn sketches, colored aptly, was well worth the effort. Especially given the peculiar little note written on the first page of the journal, which conjured up all sorts of fantasies in Anna's imaginative state of boredom.

After brushing her hair and deciding it was good enough to braid, she pulled the journal out from under her pillow. The peculiar letter signed '_Spr.C_' was tucked into the back pages of the journal, for safekeeping. Anna flipped to the first page of the journal and read over the note once more.

_Dear Elsa, _

_Cait told me you were interested in growing a garden! Well, seeing as how she and I are self-proclaimed masters of nature (though Cait really does prefer talking about fauna), we worked together to make this journal for you! I realize you're very intent on impressing the Spring, hm? (Don't worry, Cait told me everything! Try not to be too upset at her, though I'm sure you wouldn't be able to be that upset at her for very long anyway, since she's kind of your right hand man.) Anyway, we worked on this forever. We even compiled a list of tea you could grow, (that was mostly Cait's doing, she's the tea mastermind here, not me!) since I know Cait is teaching you how to do brewing and all that. (Wink wink)_

_I hope this helps you!_

_- Sum.C_

It was definitely not the same person, Anna had eventually concluded. 'Sum' and 'Spr' were two different prefixes, and so Anna could only assume it was some manner of correspondence between royals. Her current hypothesis was the 'C' stood for 'countess' or 'Count', and Elsa communicated with the nearby royals.

She simply sighed as she tucked the small journal into her dress pocket, making her way down the chilly halls of the creaking manor. It was very early, the sky was still a pale blue and an ethereal mist blanketed over the dew-laden grass. All manners of birds were chirping pleasantly, comforting Anna midst the almost foreboding darkness.

As she descended into the lower levels of the manor, the distinct scent of tea wafted through the air as she followed the steamy trail into the kitchens. There Elsa was, standing in her morning splendor, more beautiful than the moonlight that streamed through the windows in the latest hours of the summer nights. The mystery of how Elsa managed to look so perfect at such an early hour was by far the most intriguing to Anna.

"G-good morning." Anna said, breaking the silence in a tiny echo as she nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Elsa jumped slightly at the sudden noise, inhaling softly as she regained her composure.

"Good morning, Anna. Would you like some porridge?" she said in that airy manner of hers, standing above the porridge pot as she retrieved two mugs to pour the freshly brewed tea into.

"Yes please!" Anna squealed excitedly, taking her seat at the small kitchen table. She pulled the honey pot laying on the table towards her and watched as the honey slowly fell from the shelves of the wooden dipper, wondering exactly how it could pour more efficiently than a spoon.

"You're not doing it correctly." Elsa chimed as she placed a bowl of porridge and a cup of tea in front of Anna, doubling back to retrieve her own. "Here, I'll show you." She said, pulling her chair up next to Anna. Her gloved hand slid over Anna's as she fiddled with the dipper, immediately stilling it. Anna became acutely aware of Elsa presence, her hand tingling with the prospect of Elsa's skin being separated by a mere scrap of cloth as she guided her hand through the correct motions of a honey dipper. "First, you twist it around to make sure the honey is packed in the shelves." she murmured, gently twisting Anna's fingers through the motion. "Then you pick it vertically up, so the honey won't fall from the shelves as easily." she said as she guided Anna's hand up, leading it over the porridge. By that point, Anna was barely paying attention, her mind completely fuzzed by the sound of Elsa's voice accompanied with the graceful movement of her gloved fingers atop her shaking hand. As the honey drizzled delicately over the top of steaming porridge, Anna could pick out some words about 'correct angle' or something, but it was all lost as her ears began to ring in the sound of Elsa's voice.

After what seemed like a beautiful eternity, Elsa's hand left Anna's, leaving a peculiar sensation on Anna's skin. It felt as if a puzzle piece had been removed from a completed picture, and the piece was so small and minor that coupled with the entirety it was nearly indistinguishable, but after it was removed, the entire piece simply looked… awkward. Incomplete in the most dire of manners was all Anna could think to label the feeling.

Elsa simply stood from the table, not having taken a single bite from her porridge. She poured a saucer of milk and went out the back door, placing the saucer and the porridge near the front steps. _Ah, _Anna thought, _strange habit number two. _It was a peculiar habit that Anna observed, the placing of the porridge and the milk outside. As she began to think back on her first week at the manor, she had realized that she'd never actually seen Elsa eat anything, lest for a few sips of tea she'd finish off after staring at the dregs of the tea leaves at the bottom of the cup with such curious intent. It was a peculiar habit, Anna admitted, but not so peculiar as the milk and porridge. _Besides, _she thought, _that little eyebrow furrow she does when she's staring into the cup is kind of endearing. _

"Feel free to explore the grounds." Elsa stated as she came back into the manor, tugging her gloves nervously over her wrists. "There's more to it than the gardens."

"Are you leaving already?" Anna whined, dropping her spoon into the bowl with a sudden clatter.

"Yes. I apologize, but I have a whole stack of diplomatic and economic papers to get through." she sighed.

"Maybe I could help?" Anna interjected hopefully, sky blue eyes glistening in Elsa's direction.

"With all due respect, Anna…" Elsa smirked. "I highly doubt that you're attuned to the various quirks and nuances of Austrian politics.

"Ugh…" Anna wrinkled her nose at the thought. "I could learn maybe?" she added hopefully. Elsa simply laughed in the way that wind chimes rang in a cool breeze, moving a gloved hand to tuck a strand of hair behind Anna's hair. Anna blushed furiously at the miniscule sign of affection, her gaze pointed towards her fidgety hands.

"I do appreciate the thought, but I'd not want to bore you with such things. You're not a countess, and as such you should savor your freedom." she smiled gently, her expression as passive and neutral as always. "Promise to be good until dinner?"

"Does that mean I don't have to be good _after _dinner?" Anna quipped, a playful smirk tugging at her lips. Elsa rolled her eyes and gave Anna a teasing flick on her forehead.

"An_na._" she enunciated. "You _know _what I mean."

"Okay okay…" Anna sighed, her tone riddled with mock hurt. "I promise to be good until dinner, and after dinner, and for every 'before and after dinner' that follows."

"Whatever will I do with you?" Elsa sighed, smiling as she straightened her back.

"Well… you could always explore _with _me." Anna grinned hopefully.

"I wish I could, Anna. You know I do." she sighed, her original mask of formality covering her face again. "I promise I will one of these days." she said, inching her way to the doorway leading to the main entrance of the manor. "Try not to cause too much trouble." she said as she made her way towards the staircase. Elsa stopped suddenly, her back to Anna as she uttered one last string of words. "And please, stay away from the woods." And she was gone, up to the mysterious darkness that would eventually lead to the 'off limits' area that was the uppermost floor of the manor.

"All this 'don't go into the woods' is just making me want to go into the woods even more…" Anna grumbled as she finished the few bites of porridge that were left and gulping down the last drop of tea left in her mug. She placed her used dishes lopsidedly onto the counter and made her way through the back entrance of the kitchens and into the gardens.

The back entrance to the gardens was far more homely than the rest of the manor. The door led to a small stone step outside that was surrounded by two walls of window and a rooftop. Well-used tools and gloves lay strewn about, leaning haphazardly against the glass windows, some of which were cracked and broken.

There was much of the garden that Anna hadn't explored yet, that much was obvious. The garden itself stretched to the very edge of the surrounding forests, protected by walls twice Anna's height. Obviously the centrepiece of the gardens was the glass palace that Elsa called a greenhouse, which held unmatched mysteries in and of itself, such as the peculiar dripping that consistently flowed from each glass pane that watered the plants without the need of a gardener.

Today Anna decided to double around the right path through the gardens, where the flowers became increasingly more sparse. As she walked along the little cobblestone path that looped around the manor, the flowers turned to green grasses. Farther on in the path it came to a small wooden bridge that dipped over a pond. Anna trotted up to the bridge and peered over the side, noticing ripples of movement in the waters from where she had been.

"Fish?" she whispered as a long fish with brilliant gold, orange, and black scales swam briskly through the waters. It was followed by numerous other fish, all with peculiar little whiskers that looked a bit like fangs. Each fish was colored in a different way, each was unique and stood out. However there was one fish in particular, a shiny black one with a white tail, that was more apparent than the rest. Mostly because it was isolated, floating in the water in a steady torpor…

_Splash!_

Anna blinked and looked up suddenly, staring into the face of a perfectly grey wolf. Or, at least Anna thought it was a wolf, it was a bit small for a wolf. However it still managed to seem menacing and intimidating all at once as its eyes glowed nervously, backing up with a resounding growl, a flopping white fish caught helplessly in the beast's mouth. Pricks of blood began to surface from the fish's skin as the wolf's sharp canines sank into the fish.

"H-hey! Stop that!" Anna yelled, running off the bridge and towards the wolf. The wolf snarled and let go of the fish in surprise, darting through the bushes of the rest of the garden. Anna was about to chase after the beast until she noticed the distinct _smacking _sound of a fish on stone. She leaned down and looked at the fish nervously, her hands shaking as she picked the cold creature up.

"Come on, its okay." she murmured, the fish's blood smearing against her fingers as she identified the bite marks. They weren't too large she noted, which meant for a possible recovery on the fish's part. It began to lay limply in her hands, its translucent blue eyes flicking back and forth towards Anna's face. The creature was frightened, with its platinum scales staining with its own blood. It disturbed Anna, as if she could feel the animal's fear resonating deep within her.

It was as if she held the fish for an eternity before she slid her hands into the chilled water to release the fish. All at once the red disappeared from its tarnished scales as it swam through the pond. Anna had assumed that it would join the large group of fish at the back of the pond, but instead it began to hover near the black fish, before leading it underneath some sort of underwater cavern and disappearing from Anna's sight.

A sense of foreboding filled Anna as she stood up and wiped the pond water on her dress. The portion of the garden she was in now had a completely different atmosphere than the glass palace did. Perhaps it was in part due to the fact that fauna seemed to be more important than flora in this area, which brought her to thinking about the strange little wolf.

"The wolf!" she exclaimed before running off in the direction the beast had run off in. She ran through the flattened grasses, almost stumbling numerous times over sticks or rocks or twigs, not caring at all about the state of her clothes anymore. Eventually she came to a peculiar clearing that was boxed off with wooden planks. Numerous rocks were in the surrounding area, which was perfectly devoid of any plant life. The rocks were surrounded by perfectly white sand that was brushed into a rippling form, as if it were water, and in the middle of the clearing stood a statue. Its mouth was open and its teeth were bared, and it looked fairly menacing. In its mouth sat a blackened journal, much like the one she had found signed 'Sum.C'.

Before she could think of some way to retrieve the journal without disturbing the untouched sand, Anna caught the sound of a twig snapping. Up on the higher part of the walls stood the wolf, its paw on a half-broken twig as it stared Anna down. Anna could've sworn that the animal's eyes had no pupils, and they were just emeralds in place of eyes. Which very well could've been true, given the amazing thing she was just about to witness.

The wolf snarled, its grey fur bristling upwards, and then like out of a fairy tale, two perfectly grey wings unfurled from its back and spread out. After they fluttered out comfortably, the wolf gave a menacing snarl before jumping over the back of the wall and disappearing. Anna simply stood there for a moment, completely bewildered by what she had just witnessed.

"So… I guess that's why I'm not supposed to go into the woods." she mumbled, scanning the garden for any other peculiar creatures or objects. The wolf, despite being menacing, only heightened her desire to explore the mysterious woods that she was warned of. And while the wolf was certainly an added mystery, she couldn't do anything about it. So she settled on retrieving the journal from the monkey's mouth before delving herself into the mysteries of the forest.

After a few minutes of exploring her surroundings, Anna came across a peculiar hoe. She assumed that it was used to create the rippling visuals on the sand, but it would have to do to retrieve the journal. Anna positioned herself at the very edge of the sandy garden and gently eased the hoe over towards the monkey's mouth, slowly nudging the edges of the journal in between the teeth of the hoe. A few times Anna felt her stomach drop as she began to feel the journal slipping, but she was able to retrieve it without any mishaps, to which she was glad about as her reputation for clumsiness generally preceded her.

Carefully she eased the journal out of the teeth of the hoe, and lay the tool by her feet, immediately flipping to the first page of the journal. On the front page was a lengthy note, that seemed to progress onto the second page.

_Dear Elsa,_

_Okay uhm, so our little bundle of sunshine and summer should've given you the journal on flora, right? She did mention about how I'm better at fauna than flora too, I believe. (Totally unnecessary but okay thanks.) Either way I decided to make this journal for you too. I'm also better at drawing so point for me. I do know that animals, as well as flowers, are very very abundant in the spring. So if you want to make a good impression, I'd probably take my advice. (Especially the ducklings. Hint hint.) I know you're not much of an animal person, (Except cats. I know you love cats because cats are perfect and if you don't agree that cats are perfect then you're a filthy liar and I can see right through your little snow queen act, don't test me on this.) but I'm sure you can make sacrifices for, well… you know why. And if you don't know why, you're lying and being bashful. Again. Like always. You should stop that because we can all see through that little tough act of yours. Except for, well… you know exactly who. Oh and a word of advice? You should probably leave some porridge and honey outside every morning, not for the animals but for the -_

Anna flipped the page, eager to figure out the reason why Elsa continued on with that peculiar habit. However, the idea of who the journal was from was exciting to her too. It obviously wasn't Spr.C or Sum.C, she assumed, given the almost brazen casual manner that the note was written in. The handwriting was different too, more sloppy and all over the place. It wasn't hasty though, simply inexperienced.

But when Anna turned to the next page, all that awaited her was torn parchment. Whatever the rest of the note included, it was gone. Anna groaned as she flipped through the rest of the journal, noting various other pages that were torn or missing. She did however find a page detailing the fish that swam in the pond.

"Koi fish?" she mumbled. Apparently there were a wide variety of them, and they could live many many years. Certain colors symbolized certain things, but whatever was written down was far too smudged to read. Disappointed she simply tucked the book into her pocket and pulled out the journal on flora, flipping through the far more pristine pages of that specific journal.

She did however notice on the first page the sentence detailing that Cait preferred talking about flora. Anna smacked her palm against her forehead.

"Of _course! _This one must be by Cait. Ugh. Who is Cait anyway?" she sighed, flipping through the various pages in the flora book. At the back of the book were more peculiar plants listed, ones that she hadn't quite had the chance to look at yet. Among the peculiar names were Mandragora, Ambrosia, Lotus, and… some other words that were either too smudged or too strange to read. Unfortunately the curiosity would be nagging at Anna, since all she could read on the dirty page about 'Mandragora' was that they were sometimes shaped like people. The pages on Ambrosia and Lotus were too dirty and smudged to make out anything aside from the names. Anna sighed and placed the books back into her dress pockets and began exploring the rest of the gardens again.

"This place gets weirder by the minute…"

* * *

><p>The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Anna spend a good portion of the day watching the fish in the pond and trying to decide on names for the creatures. After that she had simply wandered the gardens, admiring the rippled sand and the menacing monkey statue. However, there was a certain interesting find that she had discovered. Among the vines and bushes, hidden deep deep away in plantlife and foliage, and obscured by small fruit trees, was a little shed. The shed blended almost perfectly into the wall and shadows, with its similar stone layout and its wooden door covered completely in vines and thorns. Anna had of course tried to open it, but after much pulling and tugging she had concluded that she'd need the key to reveal whatever secrets it contained inside.<p>

Eventually she decided to ask Elsa for a journal of her own, something to jot down all the peculiar things she found and witnessed down into, as well as all the things she'd need to come back to once she'd figured out how to get to them.

Come dinner time, Anna clothes were covered completely in dirt. Most of it was due to the fact she had tried looking for the shed key in the gardens; digging up whatever pile of dirt looked peculiar to no avail. This of course gave Elsa a small shocked when Anna walked into the dining room trekking dirt all over the floors. Gerda almost fainted right then and there at the prospect of the pristine floors dirtying.

"Anna, I-... What?" Elsa inquired, sitting at the head of the table.

"I kinda had an adventure." Anna admitted sheepishly, tucking an invisible strand of hair behind her ear as she shifted her weight nervously. "Adventures aren't usually clean."

"I can see that." Elsa smiled, trying to hide her rising giggle by covering her mouth with her hand. "Do get dressed and wash your hands before Gerda has a heart attack, won't you?"

"O-oh! Of course!" Anna sputtered, secretly cheering on the inside for bringing out even the tiniest smile in Elsa. "I'll be right down, s-sorry!" she said as she jogged through the dining room and into the main hall. When she got to her room she placed the two journals underneath her pillow and tucked them away out of sight. She proceeded to quickly change into a new set of clothes and washing her hands in the upstairs sink.

When she returned back downstairs, she found Elsa sweeping the floors up with a broom, and a very distraught Gerda trying to take the broom and do it herself. Anna was overcome by the intense feeling that reverberated in her chest at the sight of Elsa sweeping the floors gracefully. She trembled for a moment however, when she realized that it was her fault that the floor were dirty, and she scurried towards Elsa and put her hand on the broom handle.

"L-let me do it. It's my fault I should clean it up." she said, flustered.

"It's no trouble, Anna. You're the guest." Elsa smiled, her eyes softening in the presence of Anna.

"I'm not _technically_ a guest." Anna mumbled. "I live here now. With you. I'm under your care technically, but you're not really a guardian. It's more like I've been ma-" Anna stopped herself, her cheeks tinting pink as her eyes nervously flicked up towards Elsa. Elsa had apparently caught the direction the small remark had been going towards, as her normally pale cheeks were dusted with the same sort of pink Anna's were. The two were suddenly very aware at the slight touching of their fingers as their hands simultaneously gripped the wooden shaft of the broom.

"M'ladies, with all due respect, I should be the one to sweep the floors. Tis my job after all!" Gerda announced, breaking the sudden moment between the girls. Shocked, Elsa quickly pulled her hand away from the broom handle, composing herself immediately and nodding.

"Y-yes you're correct. It really is no trouble, Anna. Do allow Gerda to sweep." she said, her back facing Anna.

"I… u-uhm. Yeah. Okay." Anna nodded, swallowing the strange lump that was stuck in her throat. "Sorry about the mess." she mumbled, handing off the broom to Gerda. The maid simply sighed and shook her head.

"It's quite all right, Lady Anna. I distinctly remember the young countess making similar messes when she was younger." Gerda sighed as began to sweep the dirt up. Anna cocked an eyebrow up and smirked at Elsa, who had already taken her seat at the head of the table again.

"Oh? The perfect Elsa made a mess? Do tell!" Anna giggled, taking her seat at the table.

"I thought we agreed never to speak of that again." Elsa sighed, her cheeks burning brightly as she looked down at her gloved hands.

"Hush, you." Gerda laughed, sweeping in a very mechanical fashion, as if it were simply second nature to her. "It was all very endearing, Lady Anna. She would get her finest clothes dirtied in the gardens just to pick flowers for you. She was so very excited whenever it was announced that you were coming to visit." Gerda mused.

"Did you really do that?" Anna asked, all teasing gone from her voice. She looked intently towards Elsa, whose eyes flickered up to meet hers. Elsa smiled gently up at her, the same flowery, unfamiliar feeling Anna had felt around the countess before blooming in her chest.

"She did do all that!" Gerda went on. "It was very sweet. Your parents would always sigh over the fact that young Elsa was a girl, they often said that were she born a boy, she would've have been betrothed to you."

"_Gerda_!" Elsa hissed, her face becoming stern at the sudden mention of Anna's parents. The maid froze, embarrassed by her sudden blunder. Anna simply looked down and tried to smile, fiddling nervously with her hands.

"I-its all right. I'm fine." Anna sighed shakily. "Don't be upset at Gerda. It'll stop being weird eventually." she said, more to herself as a reassurance than anything else. Elsa's eyes softened with worry as the morose silence hung thick in the air.

"I should probably go get dinner. I'll see what's taking Kai so long." Gerda mumbled, dusting her dress off before leaving the dining hall and going towards the kitchens. Elsa and Anna were left alone together in the gloomy silence.

"Anna." Elsa eventually whispered, moving from the head of the table to the chair nearest to Anna and gently placing her hand on the girl's back. "I'm…" Elsa faltered, not knowing exactly what to say, and simply testing the words carefully in her mind before choosing. "I'm here." Anna sniffed and nodded, gently leaning her head against Elsa's shoulder as the countess slid her arm around her waist and held her close. They sat there huddled close, Anna attempting to contain herself while Elsa simply held her, for a long while. Anna found that the softness of Elsa's body, and the peculiar feelings she felt around her, oddly comforted her. As such, she subconsciously cuddled closer to Elsa, adjusting her body to bury her face in Elsa's neck. She could hear Elsa's heartbeat steadily grow quicker and quicker, until it beat at the pace of a running rabbit. Oh and her smell, how wonderful Elsa's neck smelled, of the first snowdrop flowers in spring.

"Anna." Elsa whispered, her throat bobbing against Anna's head as she hugged her close. "Would you… would you like to go into town tomorrow? I'll show you around and, there's a bakery, and a wishing well, and…" Elsa trailed off, nuzzling the top of Anna's head gently.

"Y-yes. I'd like that." Anna replied, her voice barely above a whisper as she tried hard not to mewl at the sensation of Elsa's physical affections.

"Dinner!" boomed a voice from the doorway, and the two girls suddenly split apart and tried to compose themselves. In the doorway stood Kai, holding a great pot of what appeared to be stew. The man tilted an eyebrow up as he placed the pot on the table. "Well, I'm sorry to intrude upon your secret meeting." he chuckled.

"N-no. No it's quite alright." Elsa breathed, standing up quickly and taking her seat back at the head of the table. Anna groaned inwardly, missing the sensation of Elsa's body against her. But when her nose caught the delicious scent of lamb stew wafting into the air, her stomach growled audibly. Elsa hid a giggle behind her hand, and Kai grinned proudly as Anna turned red and clutched her stomach.

"Well, don't just sit there with your stomach growling like that. Do dig in!"

* * *

><p>Dinner had been a very pleasant experience, and Anna was escorted to her room with a full belly. Elsa's arm was tucked gently underneath hers as they ascended up the stairs to the upper floor. As Elsa was just about to say her goodnights to Anna, she was stopped suddenly by a tug on her sleeve.<p>

"Elsa?" Anna asked nervously, her hand gripping onto the cloth of Elsa's dress.

"What's wrong, Anna?" Elsa whispered, her eyebrows furrowed into a look of worry. "If its about my forwardness, then I apologize for causing you dis-"

"No! No. I… no I appreciate that." Anna chuckled, grateful for the shadows that concealed her blush. "Its just… are there wolves in the woods?"

"Wolves?" Elsa said, her body visibly relaxing. "No, Anna. The only animals that have ever been seen in these woods are wildcats, which shouldn't be underestimated. They can be dangerous. Why do you ask about wolves?"

"I was just worried is all." Anna chuckled, releasing her grip from Elsa. "I thought maybe I saw a wolf out the window last night. It was probably a dog or a cat though."

"There's no need to be worried about that, Anna." Elsa sighed, straightening herself as the look of worry disappeared off her face into an expression of calm. "There are no wolves, and I won't allow for anything to harm you."

"Okay." Anna exhaled. "Th-thanks for taking me to my room then."

"It's no trouble." Elsa smiled. "Goodnight then, Anna. I'll see you in the morning." Elsa was moving back to head to the uppermost floor of the manor before she paused, doubling back and placing her hands gently upon Anna's shoulders. She leaned down and glanced nervously at the girl before her, tilting her head to the side as she placed a lingering kiss upon Anna's freckled cheek. The tingle immediately jolted within Anna's chest, and she stood there speechless as the countess placed a comforting kiss upon her virgin skin. "Goodnight." Elsa whispered again, this time heading towards the stairs without a shred of hesitation. Anna simply stood there for a few minutes, her hand gently touching the cheek where Elsa had kissed her and swallowing hard.

"_Oh._"


	3. Three of Coins

_A/N: Before the chapter I feel as if I should make a few things clear. In chapter one there was a mistype implying Anna was 15. I changed that, she's now implied to be 17. I'm combing over both chapters right now to clear up any typos or misconceptions. This chapter is unbeta'd and unedited, but I think it should be okay. Anyway to the people asking me if certain things are meant to be noticed/meaningful, I'm only going to say that its probably in your best interest to assume that everything I write is for a specific reason. I'm also a huge fan of symbolism, so do with that information what you may. (To the Guest, yes I actually am basing a lot of this story off of fairy tales. Most of it, actually. It's going to get a lot more fairy tale-esque from here on out. And for the Anon who said that it reminds them of survival-horror games, well, I'll just say that thats my favorite genre of video game. *wink wink nudge nudge*) Thank you to everyone who has complimented my writing so far, I usually over criticize my own writing so the positive reviews really help. Anyway! On with this chapter. (By the way, I'm looking very forward to writing chapter 4, what comes in that chapter is the idea that spurred me to write this.)_

* * *

><p>The next morning was a rainy one. Anna slept until mid-morning until the throbbing of the rain pelting against her window eventually shook her from her sleep. Her eyes opened sleepily to the sound of rain pattering against the window, and already she groaned to herself. She lay there motionless for a good while, upset at the prospect that her day out with Elsa had been ruined, until the sound of a door opening broke her despair momentarily. She shifted her head to peek up from the pillow. Elsa, with her arm filled with a bouquet of pink and purple petunias, came into the room with her hair done in a simple crown braid.<p>

"Good morning." Elsa smiled, taking the Bells of Ireland from the porcelain vase and setting them down on the side to replace them with the petunias. "Are you about ready to leave?"

"We're still going?" Anna sat up in her excitement, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "I figured that since it was raining, you'd call it off or something, and I… wow. Okay! Yes! I'll be ready whenever you are!" she exclaimed giddily.

"Of course." Elsa chuckled softly. "The rain never bothered me anyway." she paused for a moment before taking the ebony brush from Anna's nightstand and sitting next to her on the bed, adjusting Anna to face away from her.

"O-oh no, you don't have to do that." Anna mumbled, her cheeks beginning to turn pinker.

"It's no trouble, Anna." Elsa mused, gently running the brush through the knots in Anna's hair. Not a single time did she pull or tug too hard, and the strands seemed to simply come undone in her fingers. Slowly did she ease Anna's hair into a pair of green ribbons, gently braiding her hair twice before standing up. "I need to get dressed myself, so… If you'd like to meet me downstairs in about fifteen minutes?"

"Yes! I'll be there soon!" Anna breathed, suddenly feeling very much awake. Elsa simply smiled in that charming, airy grace of hers and closed the door as she left. "What do I wear though…" Anna mumbled, pulling out her suitcase of the little belongings she had brought with her. Inside the suitcase she pulled out various dresses of varying styles, eventually opting for the most casual dress she had.

The dress itself was a pale cream color, with very fine light green detailings. Lace outlined the edges of her slightly puffed, but short, sleeves, and frill rippled along the tops and sides of the chest area. It was a fairly plain dress, but Anna had decided it was impressive enough, and so she promptly left the room and skipped down the portion of the stairs. Downstairs she was greeted by Gerda, who was folding laundry in the main hall.

"Good morning, m'lady Anna." Gerda bowed, dusting her dress off. "I apologize greatly for my blunder during last night. I hope you will forgive me."

"Oh no, its alright! It's…" Anna chuckled nervously, tucking a hair behind her ear. "It's fine. Elsa's really supportive, and its easy to feel at home here, especially with her around. Here, and uhm… yeah." she trailed off. "A-anyway I'm supposed to wait for her here, since we're going out, I'll just… be here. Waiting."

"Don't be silly. Just wait in the den." Gerda chuckled, relieved to see Anna in her usual spirits. "I'm sure Elsa would be more comfortable with you sitting in a chair than you standing idly around." she teased.

"R-right!" Anna blushed, pressing her lips together in embarrassment. "I'll do that. Good suggestion." she nodded, shuffling into the den, suddenly blooming with a giddy nervousness. Alone in the quiet of the den she leaned against the small side table before the great painting of Elsa's father and placed her hand over her chest in attempts to calm her breathing. "Okay just, … just breathe. Look at something else. Distract yourself!" she grumbled, turning to stare at the random baubles on the table before her. Again, her eyes were drawn to the perfectly circular spot surrounded by dust, as if something had been removed.

"Anna?" a voice called out, breaking her sudden fascination. Anna swivelled around and blinked, her heart fluttering again at the sight of Elsa.

"Hi! I was just uhm, waiting here and… oh, you look…" Anna swallowed, a lump forming thickly in her throat. Elsa, before her, in all her graceful splendor was absolutely dazzling. She wore a tight, navy blue jacket buttoned up tight with gleaming silver buttons while the short coattails hung over pristine white breeches. Shiny, black hessians with silver tassels hugged her calves in a similar fashion as the white, leather gloves that had replaced the usual silk gloves Elsa wore. Elsa simply smiled and approached Anna, gently taking her hands and squeezing them comfortingly.

"You look beautiful." she murmured, her bright cerulean eyes gazing intently at Anna. Anna attempted to swallow the bubbling nervousness that was beginning to boil inside her chest to no avail.

"No, I- you look, uhm, you look beautifuller! I mean, not fuller, but you look more beautiful. I'm sorry. I'm rambling. I'm awkward, you're gorgeous." she sighed, gazing up at the alluring countess whose eyes, lips, cheeks, neck were oh-so-close to her that she could smell the freshness of the clean jacket, notice the platinum hairs that stuck slightly out of place in the overall perfection of Elsa's crown braid. "Wait, what?" Anna blinked, suddenly aware of her nervous rambling. Elsa simply laughed, in that way that made her voice sound like bells or wind chimes. Anna's cheeks burned as she stared at the floor.

"No, no." Elsa whispered, her right hand moving up Anna's arm and over sliding slowly over her neck and up to cup her cheek. The movement sent ripples of delightful tingling all over Anna's body, her heart throbbing so painfully she was afraid Elsa could hear it. "It's so very endearing when you ramble on like that."

"It is?" Anna whispered, leaning into Elsa's hand, thirsty for the delicate sensation of Elsa's thumb caressing her cheek. Her eyes hesitantly glanced up into the frosty blueness of Elsa's, losing herself in the rampant adoration that was so painfully obvious in Elsa's features.

"It is." Elsa whispered, her voice lower than usual, a strange nuance to her tone that Anna was unfamiliar with. Though in that moment, Anna wanted nothing more than for Elsa to whisper into her ear romantic obscenities in that very tone, her hands to burn up and down her bare skin, her hot breath to ghost over her neck…

"Elsa! Anna!" a voice boomed. Elsa immediately composed herself, straightening her back and pulling her hands towards her body. The previous spark in her eyes was lost, and her regal costume worn in full glory. Anna, however, was dazzled at the sudden heat her body was exuding, attempting in vain to keep her breathing steady. Kai soon arrived in the doorway, smiling at the two girls and motioning for them to follow. "Wonderful. I was looking for you two."

"My apologies." Elsa bowed her head as she turned to face Kai. "Have the arrangements been finished?"

"Yes indeed, m'lady. If you'll come right this way, please." he motioned, leaving the room. Elsa turned to Anna and gently took her hand, pulling her close for just a moment as she left a gentle kiss against the side of her ear.

"I meant what I said." she whispered gently, her voice thick with something foreign. She detached herself and grasped Anna's hand gently, leading her through the manor towards the front entrance of the great building. Tugged along by the gentle hand of the caring countess, Anna simply found herself burning with a curious desire that teetered on the brink of indecency. The cool sprinkling of rain that splattered across her person seemed to bring her out of her desire-drunken stupor as she was faced with the manor's head servants before her. Kai and Gerda stood proudly by a pristine, white mare whose snow-white fur glistened in the same manner as Elsa's.

"Here she is, m'lady." said Kai, who bowed in unison with Gerda. "I'm sure she is most excited to be leaving the grounds. She hasn't been around much in a while, she's so very eager to get going." he chuckled, motioning towards the horse who had begun pawing eagerly with her front hoof.

"I apologize for not telling you earlier." Elsa sighed, looking Anna in the eyes as she squeezed her hands. "Are you all right with horses? They don't… bother you, do they?" she murmured, worry flickering across her eyes momentarily before she composed herself. Anna could simply shake her head gently as she gushed inwardly over the sincerity Elsa often showed towards her. Did she know how readily her words affected in her in such a manner?

"Perhaps we should allow you a little while, to get acquainted with her." Kai laughed heartily, gently stroking the mare's nose. Gerda curtsied again before pulling her skirts up and returning to the manner, gently tugging Kai along.

"Well." Elsa sighed, letting go of Anna's hands and approaching the mare. "She's quite gentle, and she rides well. Have you ever ridden a horse?"

"No, I haven't." Anna admitted, slowly approaching the horse from the opposite side Elsa had. The mare nuzzled gently into Anna's chest, snorting playfully as her ears pricked straight up. She was a beautiful creature, Anna admitted to herself, with frigid eyes darkened by shadows and a nose soft as velvet. There was not a single spot of fur darker than the snowiest white; her hooves contrasting strongly with their inky blackness. Elsa smiled as Anna stroked the horse's cheek and nose.

"It seems she likes you." Elsa giggled, her mouth covered gently with her hand. "Shahrzad doesn't generally warm up to people with such fain eagerness."

"You're just saying that." Anna blushed, stroking the underside of the mare's chin.

"I can assure you I'm not." Elsa retorted, leaning into the side of the mare's neck as she gazed intently at Anna. "She's far too… uptight to be so easygoing, usually. I suppose its my fault for choosing a lipizzaner as my steed." she laughed sardonically.

"A lipizzaner?" Anna mumbled, her eyebrows furrowed in silent question as she looked past the mare before her towards Elsa.

"Yes. They're very well known in Austria. There's a very famous performance in Vienna where the riders use only lipizzaner stallions. I much prefer the mares, myself." she said, stroking the mare's neck affectionately.

"And why is that?" Anna whispered again, her eyes curiously burning into Elsa's.

"I feel like…" Elsa blinked, choosing her words carefully. "Its easier to make a strong connection with them. They're more inclined to cooperate, rather than dominate. The stallions don't seem to appeal to me, they never have." she trailed on, her tone riddled with peculiar nuances Anna's eager ears picked up on. "They have a sort of grace that the stallions can't seem to muster."

"And… do you feel that way about people, as well?"

"Do I?" Elsa asked, her eyes staring intently at Anna who blushed furiously under her gaze. Elsa just chuckled as she slid her hands up the horse's saddle and seated herself atop the mare with all the grace of a queen. She reached a gloved hand down to Anna, who accepted the hand readily and allowed herself to be pulled up. Both her legs dangled over the right side of the mare as her arms slid snugly around Elsa's body.

"Why do you call her Shahrzad?" Anna asked curiously, attempting to distract herself from the delicious thought of gripping passionately onto the countess.

"I remember that she was a queen, and that it was a recommendation from someone." Elsa sighed, gripping onto the mare's reins as she leaned into Anna's touch. The movement was subtle, almost nonexistent, but Anna noticed and she smiled to herself, burying her face in the felt of Elsa's jacket as her arms crisscrossed over her chest, bracing herself tightly against the countess. "I can't really remember, in all honesty."

"I see." Anna whispered, hugging herself close to Elsa as the mare's muscles began to ripple beneath the saddle, allowing herself to be coerced into a steady trot.

* * *

><p>The village seven miles away was a small place known for its salt mining. The houses were dark brown and white for the most part, with black strips crisscrossing over the windows. At the outskirts where Elsa had rode the horse towards, there seemed to be not a soul in the entire village.<p>

"Where is everyone?" asked Anna as Elsa slipped off the horse.

"There's a festival today." Elsa replied. She unclipped a wound rope from off the mare's saddle and clipped it to the bottom of her bridle. "I thought that you might like to attend." she said again, glancing up at Anna as she straightened the rope out before tying it gently to the post. "Was I wrong? I apologize for not telling you beforehand, I-"

"No, no! No. I'd love to go. Especially with you. I mean, I wouldn't really go with anyone else anyway." Anna chuckled, nervously tucking a hair behind her ear. "B-but I mean if I had the choice of going with someone else, I would obviously go with you." Elsa smiled gently at Anna's rambling, placing her hands on either side of the saddle where Anna sat.

"Jump."

"Pardon?" Anna squeaked.

"Don't worry." Elsa smiled reassuringly. "I'll catch you. Just push yourself off the saddle. Trust me." she whispered. "I'd never let any harm come to you." Anna shivered at Elsa's words and nodded, placing her hands on both sides of the saddle and pushing herself off the mare's back. After a brief second of vertigo, Anna found Elsa's cool arms wrapping around her waist and gently catching her. Anna squeaked and held onto Elsa's shoulders, allowing the countess to twirl her down onto the ground gently.

"Wow that was like, uhm…" Anna laughed nervously, awkwardly smoothing the lapels of Elsa's jacket out to distract herself from the fluttering inside her chest induced by the protective grip Elsa's arms had around her waist. "Some kind of trust exercise, huh?" she coughed awkwardly, noticing Elsa's affectionate smile again and patting the lapels of her jacket with a schoolgirl's shyness. "S-so uhm, where's the party?" she tittered.

"It's in the village square." Elsa stated, her hands sliding down Anna's hips and to her sides. Anna felt a sensual palpitation pulsate deep within her chest, and she quickly pulled her hands to herself. "Shall we?" Elsa motioned down the village streets. Anna nodded and skipped alongside Elsa, her eyes flickering between the buildings in curiosity.

The village was almost eerily deserted in that quadrant of the village. Many of the shops were deserted, however they remained open. Some of them even placed their wares outside with a little bowl labeled 'Honor System: Pay what you can afford'. Most of the shops were quaint little things; small cafes, a florist, a nice looking tea shop, and an artisan pottery store. As they turned a corner, the sounds of festivities began to bleed through the streets, echoing loudly as the music encouraged the shouts of liveliness. Anna peeked past the buildings and gasped at the huge gathering of people, dancing happily to the upbeat music in a winding, twisting line of folkdance. Around the square she could see various artisan and food stands set up with people shouting and laughing in attempts to set up their wares. Anna tugged eagerly on Elsa's arm and led her down the street.

"Look at all this!" she breathed excitedly, letting Elsa go as she twirled in the streets, the rain splattering against her as she inhaled deeply. "I've never seen this much of the world in one day before." she gasped.

"Did your parents never take you out?" Elsa inquired, her eyebrows furrowed curiously.

"Oh, uhm." Anna shrugged, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I've never really been part of any of the island festivities. I watched them, from my room, of course, but… My parents were a little over-protective, I guess." she tittered. She glanced about the street, attempting to derail the conversation. "Oh! A bookstore! And its actually occupied." she said, moving towards the little shop labeled 'Sunflower Books'. Elsa followed suit, her eyes glancing worriedly over the redhead in front of her. Anna opened the door to the shop, the silver bell tinkling to announce her arrival. A lithe girl sat in a wooden chair in front of her, not even glancing up as she flipped a page. After a few moments she slipped a piece of paper into the pages and set it down, smiling up at Anna.

"Hallo! Brauchen Sie Hilfe?" the girl asked. Her bright eyes were greener than sparkling emeralds, and her mouse brown hair was cut in an upturned pixie cut. A light smattering of freckles sprayed across her cheeks and nose. Anna blanched at the sudden use of a foreign language.

"Ah, Entschuldigung, aber sie kann Deutsch nicht sprechen." Elsa coughed, smiling gently at Anna.

"Oh! Uhm, I-... My apologies. I can speak English too." the girl smiled, nodding gently. "That's funny, I haven't seen many English speakers around here. It's nice to meet one." the girl tilted her head at Elsa and giggled airily. "In fact, two oddities today. The countess even left her manor" she added. Elsa blushed and glanced sideways, shrugging it off in her usual composed manner. "Anyway, uhm, what can I do for you? My name is Rapunzel, by the way." she added, holding her hand out for a shake.

"I'm Anna! And I was just looking around." Anna responded, taking Rapunzel's hand and allowing for a shake. "Sorry its just… I'm so excited seeing all these people. I've never seen something like this up close it feels like… For the first time in forever I'm actually part of the world." she sighed dreamily.

"How unlike our very introverted countess." Rapunzel giggled. "I'm surprised she left the manor on such a rambunctious day. June twenty-first is always so festive, and our countess has never really been one for festivities. She must really care about you." Rapunzel winked, taking a seat behind the front desk.

"Th-thats… I'm certain one major outing per year couldn't do any harm." Elsa stated nervously, picking at the edges of her leather gloves in hopes of tugging them further up her wrists. "As a countess I shouldn't be nonexistent to my people."

"Yes, I'm certain that's the reason." Rapunzel teased, busying herself with looking through a stack of books. "Anyway, er, is there anything in particular you're looking for? I wasn't actually expecting someone to be coming in today, so you kind of caught me off guard. It's a little messy, so I'm sorry."

"Oh no!" Anna exclaimed, completely missing the implications of the micro-conversation that had transpired between Elsa and Rapunzel. "I was just curious since this was the only store I saw open. Why aren't you out there, anyway? S-sorry if I'm prying."

"That's all right. It's just, well…" Rapunzel chuckled and shrugged. "It's my birthday, and I kind of have an annual thing that I do. And besides, I might be extroverted, but I'm used to being alone, so it's kind of nice to take a break every once in a while." she smiled. "Well while you're here, why don't you take a look around if you'd like to?"

"Sure!" Anna nodded, maneuvering her way through the labyrinthine stacks of books placed precariously around the shop. Many of the books had worn, leather bindings that were falling apart. Some of them looked as if they had been rebound recently, judging by the yellowed paper contrasting with the pristine leather that rippled with the smell of fresh leather. There was one book that stood out amongst the others, however. It was bound in shiny black leather and engraved with indented, golden letters. Anna pulled the book out of the shelf and flipped through it curiously, noting the various foreign names and titles she wasn't familiar with.

"Ah, that's a good choice." Rapunzel said, looking over her shoulder. "The version by Antoine Galland is better, but I don't think you know much French."

"How's it better?" Anna asked, glancing back at Rapunzel for a moment.

"Much less appropriating. That version is very censored in accordance to the very Victorian standards of 'immorality' and all that." Rapunzel sighed, taking her seat at the desk again. "It's quite infuriating actually, but I can't do much about it. They're good stories, nonetheless. Would you like to have it?"

"Oh I don't have any money." Anna admitted sheepishly.

"That's quite all right, Anna." Elsa finally piped up after minutes of waiting patiently by the door. "I'll pay for it."

"Psh. No need. Consider it a welcome gift to Austria. Plus its one of the only books we have in English, so maybe that'll be incentive for you to actually learn German." Rapunzel winked.

"Are you sure?" Anna asked.

"I'm sure. Now go on and enjoy the festivities for me, okay? You don't wanna spend your whole day stuck in my musty old bookstore." Rapunzel giggled.

"Okay. Thank you so much by the way, I'll… I'll pay you back."

"No need!" Rapunzel said. "Oh, well you can help me with something. I'm looking for someone, that's why I'm here in Austria."

"What do they look like?"

"Well, its actually a cat. A completely black cat."

* * *

><p>Anna found herself waiting under a small overhang on a stone bench, watching the people dance and laugh as they partook in the festivities. To the side was a tall, wooden post with a paper pasted against it that said "Gesucht!: Der Räuber dem Wald" with some charcoal sketch of a hooded figure beneath it. Anna didn't know a lick of German, but she guessed that it was probably a wanted poster. She found herself staring curiously at it while she waited on the chilly stone bench. Elsa had offered to retrieve some food for her as she didn't know German, and so she sat there admiring the people dancing around the picturesque fountain that stood in the centre of the square. The fountain was in the shape of a great, two-headed eagle, blackened by some manner of paint or soot. Elsa returned soon after, a peculiar filled bun and a hot mug in her hands as she took her side next to Anna.<p>

"You're not hungry?" inquired Anna as she took the food from Elsa. She replaced the mug on her left to the side of the stone bench and took a bite from the bun. The strong flavor of grilled meat and mustard shocking her. "What is this? Its delicious!"

"It's bratwurst. Generally its made from pork or beef but in Austria they make it from veal." Elsa replied. "The drink is hot punch. I got the non-alcoholic kind as I'm not entirely sure what you preferred, and I'd rather err on the side of caution."

"I see." Anna mumbled through her stuffed face, wolfing down the food with a kindled vigor. It was her first time eating food like that, the food in Ireland consisted mostly of various stews and potato dishes. "You shouldn't worry about alcohol though, I _am _from Ireland, after all." she snickered.

"I'd rather not conform my view of you into a petty stereotype." Elsa said, crossing her legs and leaning her forearms against her elevated knee. "You're a person, Anna. Not someone's ignorance personified." Anna blinked and looked towards Elsa, stunned again by her blatant honesty and affection. Her cheeks began to tingle with the familiar burning that began to ignite within her. Elsa simply smiled in that mysterious manner of hers and pulled out a cloth, reaching over to wipe a stray bit of mustard from the side of Anna's lip. The small gesture forced Anna to tear her eyes away from the countess lest she combust before her.

"Do you want to dance?" Anna asked as she finished her small meal, sipping at the sweet bunch. It was delicious, Anna decided, with its faint raspberry flavor and gentle cinnamon undertone combined with an orange base. Despite the lack of alcohol, she found that the warmth in her belly give her a spark of bravery.

"I'm not so sure that I shou-" Elsa began, but was ultimately interrupted by Anna who had stood up and tugged at her arm, the last sip of punch forgotten.

"Come on! It'll be fun. I don't even speak the language and I still don't want to miss out on this." she giggled, pulling Elsa towards the crowd. Despite her reservations, Elsa found herself smiling fondly at Anna as she allowed herself to be pulled into the crowd. At the sight of the countess entering the mass of people everyone halted. The band stopped, the people stared, and in the distance a small child began to cry. Anna smiled awkwardly and glanced helplessly at Elsa, who seemed to burn beneath the stares of the people.

"Frau Arendelle?" a girl in the crowd finally asked. She was very pretty, with auburn hair tied back, hazel eyes that shone like gems, and she wore a pretty brown dirndl with cream undertones.

"Entschuldigung für die Unterbrechung. Sollten wir tanzen?" Elsa said nervously, attempting to hide her nervousness through graceful composure. After a few moments of the crowd staring at her, they erupted into a fit of cheers and the music started immediately. Like clockwork, they began dancing again. However, the girl who had spoken to Elsa pulled her into the crowd.

"Elsa!" Anna squeaked, holding her hand out towards Elsa. Elsa attempted to grab onto Anna, but too late she was pulled into the dancing crowd. The two kept eye contact for a while as Elsa helplessly maintained her graceful composure as she was thrust from person to person in the great mass of dancers. Anna could only help but giggle at Elsa's pleading look as the countess' eyes flickered between the people and Anna, a forced smile driven by her nervousness on her face. Anna simply smiled fondly as she watched Elsa twist and turn between the people with the utmost grace.

"Oi, Fraulein!" shouted a booming voice. Shocked, Anna looked to the side for a moment, only to see a very tall, blond man reaching towards her and pulling her into the masses. "Warum tanzen Sie nicht? Sind Sie neu hier?" he asked, his great brown eyes squinted from his great smile as he twirled Anna around in the crowd.

"Ah, English?" Anna asked nervously as the man spun her in between the people.

"I see. A foreigner then?" he laughed, swivelling her around in unison with the rest of the people. "Then you don't know how these dances work."

"Oh! You speak English. The bookstore owner told me nobody else here was an English speaker." Anna added.

"That's probably because I'm not much of a reader." he laughed. "I'm Kristoff. How about you?"

"Anna." she stated. "I'm just Anna."

"Well, Just Anna, look alive, why don't you?" he laughed, pushing her gently to the next person as he switched off and began to dance with another one of the girls in the crowd. Anna laughed excitedly as she began to understand the flow of the dance, passed on from man to man, between the crowds as the people ebbed and weaved to the rhythm of the music. Every once in a while she'd notice Elsa, who moved in the opposite direction as her as the girl before had pulled her into the male part of the dance. Anna simply turned her attention to the dance, laughing and giggling with the rest of the smiling people as she memorized the moves to the upbeat dance. She felt every worry in her body leave as the hustle and bustle of the festive town square and the ironically cathartic rain soaked into her clothes and hair.

That was, until, the last stroke of the dance when she finally returned to Elsa. Anna gasped as the man she was with twirled towards the next woman, passing Anna off to the alluring countess. Elsa's arm wrapped tightly around Anna's waist, adding a sort of pressure that nobody else had, and sliding her free hand gently up her arm as she intertwined her gloved fingers between Anna's bare ones. A sort of needy feeling passed through Anna's body as she felt Elsa's body press against her. She had been the only one during the dance to intertwine their fingers, the men she had danced with simply grasped her hand in a hurried flurry. Elsa, however, made every touch deliberate and lingering as she gazed down with such brazen adoration at Anna, a calm sort of smile on her lips. Anna burned under the gaze, an emotional hunger for more of that affection eating her from the inside out as she she grabbed onto the lapel of Elsa's jacket, the thumb of her other hand gently rubbing against the smooth leather of Elsa's glove.

Suddenly the music stopped and the dance was over. The people began to bustle around them and laugh, spreading out towards the food and punch stands as the band prepped for the next song. In the haze of excited confusion, nobody noticed the countess and Anna standing there in the same position they had during the dance, with Elsa's arm around Anna's waist and grasping her hand as Anna clung to the lapel of Elsa's jacket. While the hustle and bustle continued around them, the noise was lost to Anna's deaf ears that could only hear the sudden throbbing of her own heart and her labored breaths.

"It's strange what you do to me." Elsa finally murmured, holding Anna even closer to her. Anna could feel the shockingly familiar throbbing of Elsa's heart against her own chest as she gasped from the sudden contact. She assumed that her face was about as red as a pomegranate by now, and a sudden worry that Elsa could feel her own heartbeat edged into her mind. "I feel like this has happened before."

Anna found herself pleasantly shocked a moment after.

Elsa leaned forward slowly, as not to startle or scare Anna, and as her eyes fluttered shut her cool lips came in contact with Anna's startlingly warm ones. A carnal hunger emerged within Anna as she let go of Elsa's hand and practically threw herself on Elsa, her arms wrapped tightly around Elsa's neck. Their lips moved together with a strange familiarity, as if it was oddly right, as if that missing puzzle piece had suddenly been found. Emboldened by the sudden affection, Anna nipped at Elsa's bottom lip, taking it in between her teeth and running her tongue against it. An airy moan escaped from Elsa as she stumbled forward, bracing Anna against the edge of the black eagle fountain, allowing her gloved hands to grasp and roam the thin fabric covering Anna's back.

Her lips began to move from Anna's lips towards her jawline. A strangled moan that morphed from disappointed to aroused escaped from Anna as Elsa's cold lips began to move down her neck. A cold tongue began to run down Anna's throat, and again she moaned needily against the fountain, tipping her head back to give Elsa more space. Her head felt hot and buzzed as Elsa's hands moved from her back to her hips, her thumbs pressing down against some spot near her pelvic bone, and she involuntarily moaned again as an almost sickeningly pleasant feeling began to boil within her belly.

It all suddenly stopped after Elsa opened her mouth against Anna's shoulder, the peculiar scraping of teeth against her ready skin sending a tremor of want up her body.

Elsa gasped, suddenly startled for some reason or another and covering her mouth in shame. Anna tilted her head, her bangs messy in front of her face and the shoulder of her dress pulled down to reveal more freckled skin. She panted needily, her face flushed with a bright redness and her eyes glazed with a strange urgency.

"I apologize." Elsa simply said, turning away from Anna as she adjusted her gloves over her wrists. "We should probably get back soon. It's beginning to get late." she said, squinting up at the rainy clouds that were starting to get thinner and thinner.

"I-, er… Okay." Anna replied, confused by Elsa's sudden heated affection and her almost instant change to her frigid formality.

It was then Anna began to suspect that there was more to those strange letters than she had at first thought.


	4. Four of Coins

_A/N: I actually decided to bump what I had planned back a few chapters. Seems the plot has become longer than I had originally planned. No matter. To answer one of the reviewers; no, Elsa is not going to be the 'more dominant' one per se, Anna is going to be more assertive. I don't want to give anything away, though. But no, Elsa's dominant 'streak' has kind of ended at this point haha. _

* * *

><p>"What're you reading?" Anna asked, leaning forward against the mahogany desk she began to familiarize herself with after a week of going back and forth to visit the little bookstore in the village.<p>

"It's actually a really interesting compendium of various legendary creatures all over the world. Too bad you can't read German." Rapunzel teased, waggling her eyebrows playfully as a smirk twitched against her lips. Anna sighed and slumped against the desk and counting the single specks of dust that glittered in the sunlight that streamed so openly in through the shop.

"Tell me about it then." she eventually said, looking eagerly at Rapunzel.

"Well I'm reading about creatures that are associated with fire right now. My favorite is the Djinn, but I do like the phoenixes too."

"There are Djinn in that book you gave me." Anna replied. "They seem kind of opportunistic."

"Oh thats because mostly Marid are in depicted." Rapunzel laughed. "I actually feel kinda sorry for them. They're bound to a vessel their whole life, and if owner doesn't take good care of the vessel, then they get really sick and their powers start dwindling." Rapunzel sighed, scanning the page up and down. "And they can't wander off too far from their vessel. How depressing is that? To be chained to an object for your entire life."

"Vessels? You mean like ships?" Anna asked, scooting forward a little bit and peering over the book to get a glimpse of the page.

"No, no. It has to be metal. Like a flute, or a chain, or-"

"A magical lamp." Anna interrupted. "Like Aladdin."

"Exactly." Rapunzel nodded. "There's been some debate about the Djinn in Aladdin's lamp. Marid is often the most common type, since they're so big and outgoing, but there's others like the Sila and the Ifrit." she added, regaling Anna eagerly with the history behind the magical beings. "They're supposed to be made from fire, so every kind of Djinn has a sort of power over it."

"That sounds kind of awful." Anna frowned. "I love fire, its warm and comforting, but I wouldn't want to be made from it, or control it. I'd imagine it'd be really hard to control and all, cause, y'know… Fire can get pretty out of hand sometimes." she tittered. "Like that fire at Cottenham years and years ago."

"Well, you know what they say, 'some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice.'" Rapunzel added. "I think they'd make good friends."

"Who?"

"Fire and ice. They'd be good friends. But I think winter would fall in love with spring, don't you?" Rapunzel inquired, looking up briefly from her book. "Since the spring is life, and the winter is, well, death."

"I don't think winter is death." Anna sighed, leaning against her forearms. "I just think its sleeping, hibernating or something. Its too beautiful to be death, and not dark enough. I mean, yeah the nights get longer, but I think we need winter. All the other seasons are so fast-paced and lively compared to winter, so I think we need it to take a break and calm down for a while, so we can huddle up in our homes and think about the year. Or something. I dunno. What'm I talking about." Anna laughed at herself, a twinge of disappointment obvious on her youthful features.

"Spring would say something like that." Rapunzel mused, a victorious smirk on her face. "How is Elsa, by the way? She caused quite the scandal in the village, a lot of young men were certainly disappointed."

"Oh, I-" Anna blushed furiously, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "We haven't really talked since then, she's kind of been avoiding me." Anna moped, leaning against the rickety little chair Rapunzel had procured for her. It had been a week so far since she had been kissed by the mysterious Countess of Arendelle, and the days trickled by like wet sand in an hourglass. She had taken to visiting Rapunzel most days since the depressing atmosphere of the manor suffocated her entirely too much, especially with the sudden coldness in Elsa's attitude towards her.

"Maybe you should read a book to get your mind off it." Rapunzel winked, pulling out a book from under her desk and waving it in front of Anna. "Its in English, too. I looked very hard for this book so appreciate it."

"What is it? More Arabian Nights?" Anna asked. The leather-bound, gold-engraved book she had received about a week ago from Rapunzel was an English translated version of the first volume in the Arabian Nights Entertainment. Anna found herself sucked into the enchanting stories, filled with magical and treasure, so much so that she thirsted for more. The Djinni, of course, were the most interesting, with their wry nature and wide array of magical abilities.

"Sorry, no. But it is fairy tale oriented. Its an encylopedia, kind of, of fairies. There are some stories in there too though, and it's got everything about what court the fairies belong to." Rapunzel sighed wistfully. "It makes our boring forest seem interesting."

"Courts? What do you mean by 'courts'?" Anna lilted, flipping curiously through the book and noticing beautiful watercolor drawings of different creatures and fae.

"The fairy courts. They're described in the book. They're divided into four quadrants, and two represent 'Good', and two represent, well, 'Evil'. They're called the Seelie and the Unseelie, and they're divided up according to the seasons." Rapunzel rambled on, excited by the enchanting tales of fairies and otherfolk. "They're always in conflict or something, but it says in the book that they've kind gone out, and that the fairies don't really know what to do. Its all make believe, of course, but its fun to fantasize about every now and then." Rapunzel sighed, a dopey smile on her face. "Of course, there are other creatures listed in there too, like far, far in the east where terrifying water creatures called Umibozu live in the darkest depths, and the Tengu rule the skies, while other manners of creature like the Yuki-Onna haunt the lands. They're called yokai, I think."

"The author just says 'M'." Anna frowned, looking at the cover.

"I think they want to remain anonymous." Rapunzel shrugged. "They left kind of a weird note, too." Anna blinked and looked up at Rapunzel with curiosity before flipping through the first few pages and scanning the italicized writing.

_Gosh, I hate cats. Everyone loves them so much. Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan._

_Even though they're apparently fluffy. Liars, I say. Somebody ought to learn more about dogs. Any kind of dog is better than any cat._

_But of course, its a matter of opinion. And I'm not one to talk, seeing as how I'm writing a book about make believe stuff. Course, 'make-believe' is opinion too. Knots are hard to tie, but thats opinion too. ,_

_Well, whatever. Everyone is entitled to their opinion._

_Never look a gift horse in the mouth, though! End of discussion. Everyone should agree with that statement. Don't look them in the mouth._

_Horses are better than cats, too. Even the nags. Ragtag little pony troupes as well!_

_Put no mind to my jibber jabber, though. Lesson learned; I'm mad. Even so I continue to write. Anyhow, that could be WHY I write. Somebody has to. Even history can't be remembered without a writer. _

_Could you forgive me if I apologize? And I know now that I was at fault. I admit my mistake. To you, my friend, please return,_

_For the record, just so you know. I never doubted your abilities in the slightest. Never take my foolish remarks to heart again, please. Don't let anyone tell you you're not the best at what you do. _

_And so I end this note with a hopeful thought. Now and forever I'll wait here for you. Not that I expect you to clean up this mess, mind you. Although it'd be nice if this whole situation could be resolved at some point, though I'm not exactly hoping for it to be soon, since it obviously won't, as it could even take a few decades. _

"This makes no sense." Anna frowned, reading the note up and down. "Is it a message to someone?"

"It must be. Either that or the author is completely mad." Rapunzel sighed. "We'll never know, anyway, since the author is completely unknown. I found it in the back of the shop about five months ago. Its like a really roundabout apology."

"Do you think they're institutionalized, and thats why they didn't use their real name?" Anna inquired.

"Possibly. Its on my list of theories. Either way, it just adds to the magic, doesn't it." Rapunzel winked. "Maybe you could show Elsa. I'm sure she'd be interested in mysterious things, and spending more time with you."

"I'm not so sure about that." Anna sighed. "She's kind of been avoiding me for the past week. Elsa's such a stinker." she tittered, attempting to end of a light note.

"Maybe you should take some initiative and hunt her down. What's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

><p>Anna sighed as she flipped through the pages of <em>Fae Folk and Kin From the Farthest Reaches of the World<em> by M, thinking about what Rapunzel had told her. She sat in the town square underneath a small canopy by a table and a stone bench, aimlessly flipping through a few of the pages. She stopped somewhere in the G section, flipping to a page about Gargoyles.

_A gargoyle is a living being made from stone. Their eyes are often glass, or rarely, precious gem. They were first created to be guardians of gothic structures, such as cathedrals and chapels. Gargoyles have a skewed alignment; some are good, some are bad. It's hard tell whether or not a gargoyle is good or evil, and so they remain as a neutral party loosely affiliated with the Court of Summer. As with many members of the Court of Summer, they are immune to fire due to their stoney skin. As stone creatures, they are immune to the passing of time and are thus immortal. Aside from that, gargoyles are excellent at camouflage and have the ability to fly and some, more powerful than most, can change into a human form._

Anna sighed and closed the book, leaning forward against the table and closing her eyes as she concentrated on the sound of the fountain's trickling water. The running water oddly calmed her as she faced the coldness of Elsa during the passing days. She simply sat there for a good long while, holding the large tome of creatures close to her as she drifted off in the middle of the town square.

"Hey, you." said a gruff voice. Anna squeaked and sat up, looking straight up into the blond man who had pulled her into the mass of dancing people just a week ago. "That's my general reaction to books too, usually."

"Very funny." Anna smirked, sliding the book closer to herself. "Books are interesting. I'm not quite so into them as Rapunzel, is though." she sighed. "She overanalyzes them and applies them to the real world and stuff. She's always comparing me to book characters, too." she giggled, tucking a hair behind her ear nervously as she played with the edges of the paper in the book.

"Its not that they're uninteresting." Kristoff admitted. "I just don't have any space to keep books, or any time to read them. Books and mines don't really go well together." he chuckled.

"You live in a _mine_?" Anna gaped, dropping the cover of the book against the top pages with a soft thud.

"Yep. Salt harvester and deliverer, thats me. This town is pretty famous for its salt, people from all over Austria come to get even a pinch of my salt." he stated proudly, puffing his chest up. "Some people say that trolls used to live in the mines too, thats why they're called the 'Troll Caverns'."

"Are they really?" Anna laughed.

"Yup. But its probably completely unfounded. It does make the town a little more interesting though, don't you think?"

"That's what Rapunzel said about fairy tales." Anna smirked. "That it makes the forests seem a little more interesting."

"Well there is that. There's always some big revelation or even that happens in the woods in fairy tales" Kristoff agreed. "But don't go into those woods, though." he said, tapping the wanted poster that was stuck to a nearby post. "There's a robber in there."

"So I've heard. Has anyone actually seen this robber?"

"They're apparently very crafty, but its the only explanation." Kristoff sighed. "Certain things just keep randomly disappearing, like bread or butter or books. They seem to have a liking for limes too, because those disappear the fastest."

"Why should I be scared of a lime-stealing robber?" Anna laughed.

"No, but… Its just that people think they could be, well a…" Kristoff shrugged, making awkward hand gestures and looking a little silly as he attempted to mime what he meant.

"She could be a…?" Anna trailed on, cueing him to complete his thought.

"Well they think they might be a Gyptian." Kristoff sighed. "The wanderers? Its just speculation, but thats what people have been saying."

"Oh please." Anna laughed. "Someone's culture doesn't mean they're a threat. They just sound hungry, for uhm, limes. Maybe they're worried about getting scurvy? And bread and butter? They just sound hungry. And books? Well…" Anna snorted. "Sounds like they'd get along well with Rapunzel."

"I suppose. Be careful though." Kristoff replied.

"I will continue to perceive the forest in the utmost caution." Anna harumphed, making a fakely pompous tone and attempting not to burst out into a fit of giggles. "Now I must bid you adieu, good sir, for it is getting late and I have quite a ways to walk from here." she said as she got up, managing a small curtsy and attempting to hide her grin as she dipped her head.

"Hey, wait. You should come to the fire festival in a couple days." Kristoff said. "The Summer Solstice festival was last week, but the fire festival is the day after tomorrow; it celebrates the end of the first week of summer. There's dancing, and food, and a bonfire. Most of it takes place during the night, too. It'd be fun. You could come early and I'd show you around the town, too." he added.

"Fire festival, huh?" Anna hummed to herself, sliding the book under her arm. "Sure, it sounds like fun. I'll be sure to come. Are you usually this outgoing with people?"

"Not usually." he admitted. "But it's kind of fun when everyone in this fussy town can't understand what we say, so we can laugh about that." he chuckled.

"I suppose that's an upside." Anna agreed. "Either way, I must be off. It's getting late, and I've got a seven mile walk ahead of me. I'll see you the day after tomorrow." she smirked, turning to head off.

"Don't let the robbers eat you!" Kristoff shouted after her playfully.

"'Don't let the robbers eat me' indeed." Anna mumbled to herself, shaking her head with a humored exasperation as she protectively tucked the book beneath her arm.

* * *

><p>Anna sighed as she sat at the table in the great dining hall, picking at the boiled beef before her and occasionally dipping it in sour cream and horseradish. Both Kai and Gerda were doing housework somewhere else, and Elsa was up in her quarters, as per usual it seemed, and so she was left alone at the grand table with the brightly lit chandelier, very aware of the vastness of the room now that she was the soul creature sitting in it. Her spirit felt a little defeated in the vast, lonely halls of the manor, and so she decided to flip through the book by M as she took a bite of minced apples. As she mindlessly flipped through the book, one page suddenly stood out to her. At the top it was labeled "<em>Erlking<em>", but the page itself was completely blank. Absolutely nothing except for the title was written on the page, and so Anna again found her curiosity aggravatingly piqued as she scanned the book's page for some clue. On the back of the blank page, in frustratingly small print, she saw a single, tiny sentence.

_Of the king I am blue, and of the peasant I am red. Cold of the frog, and hot of the dog._

"What does this even mean?" Anna whined, hitting her forehead against the pages. "I'm just finding more stupid questions and not finding any answers whatsoever." she sighed, recounting all the mysterious things she had found throughout her first couple weeks in Austria. The journals, the wolf, Elsa's aloof behavior, Rapunzel's obsession with books and that cat, that cat. That cat. Every single day she had gone to Rapunzel's little bookstore, she'd seen Rapunzel doodling little charcoal drawings of that black cat. When she noticed Anna though, she'd always quickly hide the drawing away. But Anna saw, and she knew she was thinking about the cat.

"Why is she so obsessed with that cat?" Anna sighed, closing her eyes against the open pages of the book. She sat up again after a few minutes and flipped through the pages, attempting to find a similar section as Rapunzel was reading on Djinn. After a bit of uncalculated flipping through the book, she came across a page on Djinn, which seemed more well put together than most of the sections.

_Djinn are complicated creatures. There are five known types of Djinn, with the Marid being the most well-known type. Usually depicted as very muscular, tall men, the Marid are more often than not humored and benevolent, unlike their Ifrit counterparts which are generally malevolent, but can be turned with the correct persuasion. A Ghul, a sort of Djinn hovering between life and undeath, will always be vengeful and malevolent. One of the most rare types of Djinn is the Vetala, which are semi-malevolent beings with vampiric qualities. _

"Vampiric qualities, huh?" Anna mumbled between a mouthful of potatoes, staring intently at that specific pair of words. Again she journeyed through the old book, flipping far to the back pages of the book sectioned off by the letter 'V'.

_A vampire is a being who has achieved undeath. Blood is needed as sustenance for them to survive, and more often than not they don't eat food. Vampires do not go out into the sunlight, and are generally very reclusive beings. Despite common belief, a vampire's reflection does show, however they are weak to holy symbols and talismans of protection. _

Anna frowned at the page and closed the book, mulling over the bits of food left on her plate with a silent thoughtfulness. As she chewed mechanically, Kai eventually passed through the dining room, carrying what looked to be a tray of food.

"Wait, are you taking that to Elsa?" Anna asked, dropping her fork in the sheer excitement of possibly catching a glimpse of the reclusive queen.

"Yes, m'lady. Why?" Kai asked, a wary expression on his face. Anna stood upright immediately, the chair ripping an ugly noise through the spacious dining room. Kai cringed as she came over, sweeping the tray out of his hands and twirling through the room.

"Thanks, Kai! I'll take this up to her tonight." she called, skipping out of sight before he could protest.

"Wait, I-... That's. Oh dear." Kai mumbled to himself, wringing his hands with nervousness as he concluded that Elsa would not be at all happy with this predicament. Anna sighed happily to herself as she ascended up the mahogany stairs, steeling herself emotionally in order to go up the second flight of stairs, that led to the very dark floor that was the uppermost floor. Anna swallowed and began to walk up the stairs, twitching nervously every time the stair creaked unexpectedly.

The top hallway was almost pitch black, so dark she couldn't see the tray in front of her as she awkwardly felt her way through the blackness. She could feel a carpet beneath her feet, and the occasional metal bump on the wall indicating some sort of torch holder.

"Why have a torch holder with no torches?" Anna mumbled to herself, her eyes perpetually squinted as she groped the blackness. After a while she came to a sudden stop; a single door was illuminated in an ethereal blue light, the paint peeling and white with intricate acrylic paintings of snowflakes adorning it. The temperature in the air was suffocatingly cold at this point, her chest smarting with a shock of pain as she breathed into the frosty air. It felt as if frost was beginning to crawl through her nostrils and down her throat, and beginning to cover the insides of her lungs like some lethal spore that grew fractaled crystals in her warm flesh.

After the ten seconds of shock caused by the sheer desolated air, she knocked tentatively on the white boards. Shuffling was her from the opposite side, along with the crinkling of papers. The door creaked open slightly, and a horrified gasp escaped from the darkness within right before the door slammed shut again. Anna blinked, confused, as the sudden frigidity of the air began to amplify, and more shuffling was heard from the inside. Forever passed as Anna waited in the painfully cold air, freezing the darkness in place as if the cold were so strong it permitted time to stop.

As the eternity passed, the door creaked open revealing a very flustered Elsa. Her hands were shaking inconsolably, and her eyes flickered every which way. The breaths that escaped her lips shuddered in an irregular fashion as she reached forward and gently took the silver platter from Anna.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you." Elsa whispered, her chest shuddering beneath the silk of her dress. "You surprised me."

"I can see that." Anna said, glancing momentarily towards Elsa's chest. A thin rope hung limply around Elsa's neck, a bronze symbol of some kind carved onto a circular cut of silver metal shivered with each irregular breath that escaped from Elsa's red lips. In the ethereal blue light, Elsa looked even paler, her skin whiter than the leaflets of paper Anna found in Rapunzel's bookstore.

"I believe that you ought to go to bed, Anna." Elsa finally said, her eyes cast down as she gripped the platter. "It's awfully late, and I have much work to finish up." Elsa sighed, stress crinkling her face in an unhealthy manner. Anna frowned, not ready to give up yet.

"You should come to the fire festival with me the day after tomorrow." Anna stated. "It'd be fun. We'd have fun. I promise I won't make you dance this time." she added with a lighter note. Elsa smiled momentarily before composing herself again.

"I might. But for now, I'm terribly tired Anna. I've had a long week and an equally long day, and it's still not over yet." Elsa sighed again.

"Maybe I could help." Anna interjected hopefully. A sardonic smile slipped across Elsa's lips as she looked sadly toward the ginger in front of her.

"I don't think anyone can help me now."

* * *

><p>Anna clambered into her bed, having retrieved the book from the dining room, and tucked herself in. She light a candle and flipped open the book, aimlessly flipping through the pages with an air of boredom. Realizing there wasn't much to do at the moment, she slipped out of her bed, oddly restless. She took the candle with her to the brown desk and began to reread the journals and the letter she had found. It was a little obsessive, she admitted to herself, but the gnawing idea that there was something there, something she <em>had <em>to know, something she felt like she was forgetting, kept her going. It fueled her desire to know what had happened, what odd histories transpired in these hallowed halls of Manor Arendelle. Of course, there was also the Countess' strange behavior, she mused to herself.

She thought to herself, had she ever seen Elsa outside when it was sunny? Had sunlight ever touched her translucent, white skin? It made sense that it hadn't, Elsa's skin was whiter than paper, and any eyes that looked upon her were faced with the risk of snow-blindness. As she mulled over the pages during the slow-drawn minutes, she eventually realized there was nothing to be found. Not at the moment, anyway. She'd need to find more information if she had any hope of figuring anything out, at all. A surge of defeat coursing through her, she retrieved the tome from the bed and was about to put it away, when she heard the swish of paper, as if something had fallen from the book and onto the floor.

"Is it in _that_ bad shape?" Anna groaned, placing the book on the desk and taking the candle to search the floors for a piece of paper. After a bit of searching, she came across what had fallen out of the book, and rather than a page, she found a gritty photograph. Anna held it to the flame and scrutinized it, her eyes blurry with darkness and flame.

The photograph was of a cat. It was a beautiful creature, a small thing, with slightly fluffy, short fur colored like midnight. Bright eyes bore through to her, staring intently in a motionless manner as its tail lay curled up by its hind paws. Around its neck was a thin piece of rope, and some sort of tag attached to it. Whatever it was, Anna couldn't tell. White bands were around the creatures front legs, to which Anna assumed it was white fur markings. Other than those bands, a strip of clean white was neatly lined over the top of its skull, and partially down the bridge of its nose. Despite its very elegant set up, the cat didn't look snooty. In fact, the creature held a strange aura of humility, with its eyes half lidded and its neck slouching forward a little.

However magnificent this cat was, however, the interesting part of the photograph wasn't actually the photograph itself, but the neatly written cursive at the bottom of the photo.

_Cait._

"Cait?" Anna mumbled to herself, taking a moment to process the name. "Wait. Cait's a cat!?" she squeaked out, gaping dumbly at the photograph before her. Her jaw fell, unhinged by shock as she looked the creature up and down. It did, of course, hold a certain air of intelligence far past similar creatures, and the cat might not even be the same cat, she concluded. It was an average name, and it was similar to cat, so why would it be shocking for someone to name their cat Cait?

_No way, _Anna thought, shaking her head to herself, _I should assume its not a coincidence until its proven to be a coincidence_, she decided, tucking the photograph with the journals and letters. _If its not a coincidence, I guess that answers some things. Who is Cait? Cait is a cat. But that just makes things more confusing! _she grumbled, tucking herself into bed and staring at the ceiling as if it had done something quite terrible to offend her. _Did Elsa even have a cat when she was younger? I don't remember any cats. _A new curiosity lit within Anna, extinguishing whatever doubt and defeat she had felt earlier. She figured, however, while this new information was certainly exciting and did open new doors while it closed others, that it was best to sleep on it, and that she had forever to learn of the peculiar mysteries that encompassed Manor Arendelle, allowing herself to slip off into a deep slumber, beckoning peculiar dreams and all manners of phantasmagoria to enter her vulnerable mind.

Outside, the wind howled fiercely as a stone grey wolf stalked through the grasses, its wings folded neatly on its back and its eyes of solid emerald color sparkling in the moonlit air.

It had begun to mark its territory.

* * *

><p><em>The winter had lasted years and years and years. It showed no signs of relenting, and its harshness had not permitted a single piece of life to grow within the rigid soils for what seemed, and certainly may have been, forever. Of course, that was not to say that the people gave up. In fact, they did their hardest to lead full and happy lives; growing what livestock they could, keeping warm, insulated warehouses to grow crops in, and simply helping each other out when the need arose. <em>

_Of course, the children didn't pay attention to the plights of the adults who suffered through the cold days working hard in the fields and attempting to ice fish in the frozen fjords. And so a little girl, with hair like spun gold and eyes as blue as the sea, skipped off happily to visit her friend, her longtime friend, one of the two friends she had ever needed or had. It was different today, however, when she knocked excitedly on the door, in that same knock she always knocked in, and was greeted with the solemn face of one of the household adults. Suddenly feeling ashamed and guilty, as if she did something very bad, the little girl's pale cheeks burned brightly under their scrutiny, but the adults simply looked sad and defeated._

_She was allowed into the homely little place, ushered in to keep the frostbite away. The village doctor was mumbling about something or nother with a woman in the room, but the little girl found she could honestly care less. The only thing of importance in the room was the little boy laying face upwards, small moans escaping his lips as a warm cloth lay on his forehead. His cheeks were flushed with fever and his body was soaking wet with his own sickly sweat. The little girl suddenly felt very peculiar, and a hazy warmth began to seep into the corners of her consciousness. _

_Eventually, as she sat there, simply looking at the boy who wouldn't acknowledge her presence, or perhaps he couldn't as he was gripped by some horrid visage, the frightful phantasm shaking him to his very core. Perhaps he couldn't even acknowledge real from fake, the girl concluded, peering curiously at him from the wooden chair she sat him. The adults ushered her out at one point, and it was dark by then. She could've sworn she wasn't there that long, but time flew when she had fun. Or was that just fear? She was afraid, she suddenly realized. She had never been afraid in her life. _

_When she returned home that evening and she looked out of her window into the village before her, she saw thousands of snowflakes descend from the heavens in a calculated manner. After that, she saw that the boy left the house, beckoned by some supernatural force. His hair was white as snow, and his skin sticky and shiny from the sweat that his body had created. He was taken by a strange woman, who didn't look good, but didn't look evil. She simply looked, concluded the girl. _

_The girl just watched as the boy was carted away through the village, taken away to some manner of snowy kingdom, she assumed. _


	5. Five of Coins

_A/N: Hello all! I'm very very sorry for my hiatus, but I have this thing called the JRP and its annoying. Either way, I'm super happy to see the new reviews! Also whoa, over 100 follows and 50 favorites! You guys are the greatest. I'm really happy to see that people are catching the references and some nuances. I don't really know what else to say other than I'm sorry for the late update, and that I'm going to be updating more frequently now. Thank you for all the kind reviews, follows, and favorites! I appreciate every single one and its especially wonderful to hear feedback._

* * *

><p>Rather than looking for more mysteries in the manor, Anna decided her day would be well spent with a living creature that listened to her ramble on and on about her problems and her worries, without ever interrupting or rolling her eyes. In fact, at some points, Anna could swear that a sparkle of sympathy was apparent in the mare's eyes.<p>

"You know, I was reading that book Rapunzel gave me this morning." Anna started. "And I was reading more about Djinn, and vampires, and something about phoenixes. But you know I really think there's this one I really like, I can't quite remember the name but I know its another language. They're spirits in the mountains, and they're kinda like vampires, but not exactly… Of course I like the Djinn a lot too. They seem to have depressing lives though. I mean, I read that unless they're connected to a vessel then their powers get out of hand, and… Anyone who touches the vessel last controls the Djinn. So they're kind of like slaves. Shahrzad, don't you think that's sad?" she sighed, leaning against the stall door. The mare snorted, her eyes softening as she gave Anna a reassuring nudge. Anna giggled at the sensation of the mare's soft nose against her and smiled. "Thanks." She stood there for a moment, stroking the mare's nose and revelling in the affection that the animal was exhibiting, when suddenly she stepped back and looked up into the horse's eyes again.

"I had a strange dream last night, would you like to listen?" sensing the girl's need for company and an ear to listen to her, the horse snorted in affirmation, its ears flicking at the air as it braced itself for another hour of Anna's nervous rambling. "Well, it was about a girl. And a boy. The boy seemed to be very very sick, and everyone in the village was suddenly very worried and shocked, like it couldn't be cured. It was also very snowy, so that could have been a contributing factor, you know? Since mortality rates are higher in the winters than in the summers and people are generally more sick then and food runs out and plants die and, er, okay moving on." Anna coughed awkwardly. "Anyway the little girl visited him, but he didn't even acknowledge his presence. She went home and later that night she saw him leave his house, only his hair was white, like Elsa's! Maybe even whiter. Which was weird because his hair was dark brown before. Anyway the little girl didn't freak out at all, it was like it was the most normal thing in the world for that village, so I'm wondering; are they sad because the boy was sick or because they knew he was going to be taken away?" she ended, looking intently at the mare for some sort of answer. Shahrzad simply allowed a small whinny to vibrate against her lips while she swished her tail.

"Do you mind if I ride you tomorrow?" Anna asked. "I really doubt Elsa would go with me, seeing how she's, y'know, avoiding me." Anna tittered sadly, masking her sadness with a flimsy smile as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Shahrzad placed her chin on Anna's shoulder and nuzzled her gently. Anna began giggling from the ticklish sensation of the horse's chin on her skin and the bristles of its chin hair, and so she turned and began gently tickling the bottom of the mare's chin. "Thanks. I needed that."

As she was enjoying her quiet moment with the horse, a sudden crash startled the mare and she began to whinny nervously. Anna hushed the horse and stroked her nose up and down, gently cooing to the animal as she looked over her shoulder and saw Kai running through the yard, his face red as he panted heavily. Curiosity getting the better of her once more, Anna gathered up her skirts and moved over to where he was.

"What's going on?" she asked as she asked as she jogged next to him.

"So sorry for disturbing you, m'lady, its no problem. Its just that blasted robber." Kai said, his eyes narrowed as he suddenly stopped, looking up at the top of the wall. Anna followed his eyes and looked up, and saw at the top, a girl no more than five tall, with skin the color of spread treacle and hair a deep ebony. "She's been coming here for a couple years now, stealing bits of food and bread." he sighed, dusting himself off as the girl who had easily scaled the wall stood at the top, smirking in victory as she dangled a bag of limes over the edge before hopping down, out of sight.

"Is that the girl wanted in the town?" Anna asked, her eyes flicking to Kai as she tore her eyes away from the wall.

"Ach, yes. She's caused quite a bit of trouble for everyone. She only steals books and food, though. Nothing valuable, really."

"What's her name?"

"She insists that people call her 'Robber Girl', and thats basically what people have been calling her. She used to leave her name whenever she stole something, to make sure people knew what she called herself. However people have begun to add the word 'little' to that self-imposed title, since, well…" Kai gestured to the wall. "She's just five feet tall."

"Kristoff said she was a Gyptian."

"A Gyptian?" Kai blinked, bursting out into a fit of chuckles moments after. "That's quite an archaic term for it. Well, its true. She's Romani. And quite crafty, too. She's alluded the village guard every single time."

"A robber that steals books and food, huh." Anna mumbled to herself, casting one last quick glance towards the wall before she began to make her way into the house again.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day had gone about in a miserable succession of humdrums. In fact, after retrieving some breakfast and a treat for the mare, Anna had spoken to Shahrzad for the rest of the day. She asked many questions about the countess, to which the mare simply looked towards her with sympathy. Afterwards she talked a bit about Rapunzel and Kristoff, and asked the mare if she knew much about that Robber Girl that was so infamous.<p>

She took dinner of veal and sauce by herself in the dining room, per usual. The idea of bringing Elsa's dinner up to her was tossed around in her mind for a bit, but she decided against it ultimately. The fork clattered unceremoniously against the porcelain plate as she sighed, leaning against her hand before eventually pushing herself up from the chair with an ungodly screech of chair legs against floorboards. As she trudged up the lonely stairs she contemplated visiting Elsa's frigid halls and attempting to lure the Countess out with pleas and rambles, but her weary legs led her to her room before she could even think the idea out thoroughly. Feeling oddly drained despite not having done much during the day, except witnessing a robbery and talking to a horse, she fell onto the bed and sleep overtook her quickly and quietly as another peculiar dream settled her into the comforting warmth the blankets emitted

_"You wish to save your friend?" muttered an old crone, haggard and grey from time's toll on her body. "You will need help, though. It will not be an easy journey, my girl." she muttered, tossing something into a pot of… other something. A little girl stood nervously by the door, wearing fine white furs and grey mittens, nodding apprehensively as she eyed the old crone._

_"Come, child." muttered the crone, motioning towards the table. "Come take a seat and I will recite you a tale. You see, you will need a group of four to complete your journey to save your friend, young girl. I cannot help you with three of them, however…" the crone frowned, staring into the hearth before glancing back the girl. "I can tell you where you will find the first one who shall help you with your journey. To truly understand this… this… being, you will have to know a little bit about them." the crone nodded to herself, pouring some of the cauldron's contents into a bowl and hobbling over to the girl, placing it in her hands. "Do eat, child." the crone muttered softly before retrieving a bowl for herself and taking a seat at the table, clearing her throat before scooting forward._

_"Now, a long time ago, in a kingdom of sand where snow was a foreign concept, something magical and something that could never be perceived as a threat, there was a being. A person born from fire. Now these people were very sought after, in fact, they would be chained and shackled to metal vessels to keep them bound to their owners. There was one, however, who fought against this, and refused to be bound to a vessel._

_Of course, they were no do-gooder. They stole and pillaged, and became so arrogant and greedy that everyone in this sand kingdom bowed down to them. Women, wine, treasure… This being had it all. All that lay in the kingdom of sand, that was. Now this greedy, greedy being wanted more. They wanted to conquer. And so they traveled to our continent, to our country, in order to steal from one of the most feared beings this world has seen;_

_The Snow Queen."_

_The little girl shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the queen, bowing her head nervously as she stared at the flickering flames. With a knowing glint in her eye, the old crone simply nodded and cleared her throat to continue her tale._

_"Of course, this being was told not to. Everyone told them it was too dangerous. 'Don't go' the women pleaded, 'It's not safe', said the guards. This being, arrogant and greedy, shook them off and headed for the tundras to the castle of the Snow Queen. Her castle was magnificent, of course, and her subjects lived in eternal fear of her fearsome power. This little being of fire, however, thinking they were so clever and sneaky, crawled into the castle late at night thinking the queen was nowhere near. And so this greedy being of fire snatched the shiniest thing in the vicinity and ran, snickering softly to itself as the snow melted beneath its warm feet. Of course the Snow Queen was no fool, and she followed the being through the frozen mountains before stopping it and demanding her precious relic returned. Fueled by arrogance, the being declined, and made a show of fire magic in response. The Snow Queen, who was much older and much more experienced than the being of fire, snorted incredulously and froze the being solid, retrieving her relic and eyeing the solid block before her._

_'How pitiful you are, little Djinn. Out of arrogance you refuse to be bound to a vessel, and that proves to be your undoing. You wouldn't know that a Djinn can always return to their vessel no matter what, would you?' she spat, returning to her ice palace._

_You must be wondering why I would tell you this tale, no?" asked the crone, to which the young girl in front of her nodded skeptically. "Well, the first one to join your cause is this being encased in ice. Climb the mountains northeast of our village for two days and three nights, and at the top of this mountain in a thicket of pine trees, will you find them encased in ice." the girl nodded at the crone, whispering a thanks under her breath and heading for the door, only to be stopped by the woman who shook her head._

_"You must know, that this being encased in ice has been sitting there for quite a long time, brooding and angry. To reach this being, you'll need these." the woman said, tying a belt around the little girl's waist securely, arming it with a hammer and pick. "And well, you'll need this too." the woman slipped out a shiny golden oil lamp and placed it into the child's hands. "Don't ask why, you'll understand when you get there. Now make haste, the Snow Queen is not known for her patience."_

_"Patience?" squeaked the little girl, just about to look back to the woman. "What do you mean by-... patience…" she mumbled out, to herself. When she looked back at the doorway, the woman was gone and so was the hut. The only proof of the hut or the crone ever having existed were the hammer and pick, and of course the peculiar little lamp. Eventually the girl decided that this wasn't very shocking at all, and simply secured her items and began to make the long trek up into the snowy mountains, in search of the being encased in ice._

* * *

><p>Anna groaned and brought her hand to her head, squinting at the bright sunlight that streamed through the windows and into her eyes. How she had ended up half on the floor, she had no idea, but apparently those books Rapunzel gave her were seriously affecting her sleeping hours. She pulled herself up back atop the bed and grumbled at the frizzy mess atop her head, reaching lazily over to retrieve the hairbrush on her nightstand. As she did so, she looked up at the vase. New flowers, she thought to herself. You know, flowers can't replace a person, she thought wistfully as she brushed the tangled knots of her hair. Elsa's aloofness wasn't going to get her down today, she decided. She was going to go to the village, and enjoy the festival Kristoff had invited her too. Maybe Rapunzel could tag along, as well.<p>

Anna sighed and tied her hair up in two braids, wearing a plain green and yellow dress. She sat at her vanity and made sure her hair wasn't gross, and that she smelled just fine. After about thirty minutes of fussing, she slipped out of her room and headed down the stairs, deciding to get a light breakfast of bread and jam before going out with Shahrzad. As she turned heel towards the kitchen, however, she stopped short and took a sharp intake of breath as she saw Elsa standing by a teapot and mulling over some brew that she had presumably just made. The dress she wore was a blue and purple velvet that hugged her body just perfectly, and made a fluid transition down her thin arms to where the cuffs of her white gloves lay tucked about her wrists. Her wispy white hair was in a humble crown bun, which looked far more beautiful than it had any right to be.

"Hey." Anna said, tucking a hair behind her ear nervously as she slowly made her way into the kitchen. Elsa jumped slightly, a soft intake of breath echoing in the spacious kitchen as she smoothed the cloth of her dress out. "Do you… want to talk to me ever?" Anna added, testing the waters and slowly walking towards Elsa, nervous that she might scare her away at any minute.

"Anna, please." Elsa whispered, a pleading tone obvious in her constricted voice. Anna could feel her heart constrict at the sound of Elsa's voice, so obviously pained by her presence.

"Do you hate me that much?" Anna asked, sliding up next to Elsa and glancing at her. "Why do you kiss me and suddenly just disappear, poof, like that?"

"I'm sorry." Elsa whispered, bowing her head and taking a deep breath as she closed her eyes in hopes of calming herself down. "It was a mistake. I was reminded of something."

"Reminded of what, Elsa?" Anna pushed, her eyes narrowed at the Countess before her.

"Just a ridiculous dream I've had for a while. It's nothing. Anna, please…" she whispered again, not allowing herself to even look at Anna lest she panic.

"Please, what? Why do you avoid me? You've done this for years, Elsa. I've written you letters, I've asked where you were. Why do you do this?" Anna pleaded desperately.

"I'll hurt you, Anna. I'll hurt you and thats the last thing I ever want." Elsa whispered, a gloved hand sliding up to cover her mouth in a silent urge to suppress her feelings.

"How, will you hurt me, Elsa? How will you hurt me? Explain to me why we haven't even talked in years, and then suddenly after not even a month here, you kiss me and then you just suddenly drop me? You put flowers in my vase every morning, but that can't ever replace a person." she said, almost shouting as the sudden drop in temperature pricked at her arms, raising goosebumps all over her body.

"..." Elsa hesitated, backing up and bringing her hands up to her arms defensively and glancing to the side, not making eye contact with Anna whatsoever. "I can't tell you, Anna." she uttered, cowering away from the redhead before her. A sudden flash of confidence jolted through Anna, and she stepped forward and grabbed Elsa's wrists, pushing them to the side as she stood up and put her face right up to the Countess', their noses just almost touching as she held Elsa's gaze defiantly.

"You can't say that, Elsa. You can't do this hot and cold thing with me that you've been doing for years, okay? Elsa, you…" she whispered, noticing the tears welling up at the edges of Elsa's eyes as her eyes shut tightly, her breathing becoming more jagged and erratic. "Elsa, you're freezing." Anna gasped, her warm thumb accidentally slipping between Elsa's sleeve and glove.

Elsa panicked.

She ripped her hands from Anna's grasp, finally making eye contact with Anna and breaking at the hurt expression she saw in the redhead. They held the gaze for a while longer, before Elsa ran away quickly, her hand grasped tightly around where Anna had touched. Anna stood in the kitchen, dumbfounded and hurt and suddenly feeling not very hungry at all, the prospect of bread and jam long forgotten by the sting of Elsa's desire to avoid her. Defeated, she simply slipped out through the back door of the manor, and headed towards the stables where Shahrzad would be. At least she won't run away, Anna thought.

Unbeknownst to her, Elsa had slid down the wall in the main hall, collapsing under her labored breaths as she held her wrist where Anna had touched her.

* * *

><p>Anna tied Shahrzad up against a nearby post, gently stroking her nose and giving her a sugarcube. She had always loved horses, she had had a horse back in Ireland, but she had decided that the old mare would be too old to travel and deserved a nice retirement, and so she had given her to a nearby village family with a pair of little girls who simply adored the horse. A wave of nostalgia washed over her as she stroked the mare up and down the head, gently scratching the bottom of her chin and placing a soft kiss on her nose before stepping back and giving a small wave, heading towards Rapunzel's bookstore as she twirled around in the street.<p>

As she entered the bookstore, she gasped to see Kristoff sitting on one of the chairs, staring boredly up at the ceiling as Rapunzel hummed and ghosted between the shelves.

"Kristoff?" Anna squeaked, looking at the half-asleep blond boy. He was suddenly jolted awake, and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, ruffling his golden locks in the process.

"Oh, uh, hey Anna. I figured that this was the place that you were most likely to be at, since you get along with Rapunzel so well, so I decided to wait for you here. If thats all right, I mean." he chuckled nervously. "I thought maybe you'd want to get breakfast?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that…" Anna was cut off by the sudden growl her stomach emitted. She rode a horse seven miles on an empty stomach, having lost her appetite from Elsa's aloof behavior. Kristoff started laughing at the sound of Anna's stomach, and Rapunzel briefly looked up and smirked at her.

"Wonderful! I'll take you to a great little place I love, and then I can show you around down." he grinned, standing up and stretching his broad arms.

"Wait, uhm… Rapunzel? Do you want to come with us?" Anna inquired. Kristoff's face fell slightly, disappointment obvious on his features. Rapunzel looked between Anna's hopeful expression, almost pleading, and Kristoff's obviously disappointed one.

"I'd love to." Rapunzel finally said, closing whatever book she was holding and placing it back on the shelf. She retrieved a key from her pocket and wiggled at Anna teasingly, to which the redhead giggled and nudged Kristoff out of the shop as the brunette locked it up. She made an apologetic expression at Kristoff, who simply smiled and shrugged, obviously not overly bothered by it and not willing to hold a grudge over a petty thing like that. He led the girls to a small place with vines and foliage growing all around it in the middle of the street. A wooden sign hung from the top, the words 'Das Fernglas' carved neatly in sweeping strokes.

"It means 'the Spyglass'." Rapunzel whispered to Anna, gently nudging her and giving her a small smile.

"Thanks." Anna whispered back, following Kristoff into the little restaurant. The small place was homely and small mahogany tables were placed systematically around the place. A large man stood at the back end of the little tavern, wearing suspenders and a small hat. He smiled and waved pleasantly, taking a cloth and dusting off a nearby table and motioning towards it hopefully.

"Sind Sie nur drei?" the man said.

"Ja, natürlich, Oaken." Kristoff responded, pulling up his seat from the table the man had motioned towards, and leaning back comfortably. Anna and Rapunzel joined him at the table, Anna looking around excitedly at the various sides of the spacious tavern, honing in on a peculiar painting that was reminiscent of some Renaissance era. The painting itself looked as if it were two girls; a dark skinned on and a pale one. It seemed as if the pale, blonde girl was freeing the dark-skinned brunette from something. As the big man returned with some fine, handwritten menus, she simply continued to stare at the painting.

"Etwas zum trinken, ja?" the man, whom Kristoff had referred to as Oaken, asked eagerly. Anna, not registering the foreign language as she gazed at the painting, was luckily helped by Rapunzel.

"Sie ist schon neu hier und spricht kein Deutsch. Etwas Wasser für uns Beide, bitte." she stated pleasantly, nodding at the man.

"Und ein Bier für mich." Kristoff added, nodding his head at the big man as he smiled pleasantly to retrieve the drinks.

"So when do you plan on learning the language?" Rapunzel teased, nudging Anna from her mesmerized state of staring at the painting. Anna shook her head and blinked, taking a few moments to process what Rapunzel had just said.

"I was figuring you guys could just be my wingmen for the rest of my stay?" Anna giggled hopefully. In perfect unison, Kristoff and Rapunzel rolled their eyes and gave Anna a sardonic look, to which she held her hands up in defeat and sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll ask Kai or Gerda for some help."

"Or Elsa." Rapunzel quipped playfully. Anna burned slightly under her words and looked down at her hands, suddenly very fascinated with the way her fingers moved. Kristoff coughed and shrugged.

"I can help too. Rapunzel would probably be willing, too. Right?" he asked, looking at the brunette. Rapunzel nodded in an affirmative as she glanced down at the menu. "Right well, uhm. See down here on the menu, its chopped up according to what meat you want. Kalbfleisch is veal, Schweinefleisch is pork, Rindfleisch is beef, Huhn is chicken, and Fisch and Wurst should be easy to figure out. And if you can't, then you're a lost cause." he teased. Anna rolled her eyes at him and nudged him, simply looking down at the menu, her eyes glazed over as she made a half-hearted attempt to process the foreign words in front of her. Oaken eventually returned with the beer and water, placing them before the respective people before looking expectantly at the group.

"Bischen mehr Zeit, bitte." Kristoff admitted sheepishly, his expression mildly apologetic.

"Ja, gut." he responded curtly, heading back to the end of the restaurant to clean some more glasses or polish the wood.

"So what's that painting of?" Anna asked curiously, motioning towards the one with the pale girl and the dark-skinned girl. Kristoff and Rapunzel turned to look at the painting. Upon seeing it, Kristoff groaned inwardly whilst Rapunzel sighed with a knowing look on her features.

"I'll leave this one to Rapunzel. I did my good deed for today." Kristoff mumbled, leaning back in his chair. Rapunzel cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter, looking right at Anna.

"Well, there's a legend in Denmark, about a snow queen who lives on a secluded island called Spitsbergen. Anyway, there was a story about a thief who stole something from her, and as revenge she froze her solid in a block of ice. Decades later, a girl frees her from that ice block, to exact revenge on the snow queen." Rapunzel said, keeping her rant to a minimum. "It's actually a cute tale, and nowhere near as sad as The Little Match Girl that's famous around here."

"Is any of it true?" Anna asked hopefully, a certain glimmer in her eye. Kristoff hid his snicker behind his great hand, to which Rapunzel nudged him and shrugged unhelpfully at Anna.

"Well that's like asking if magic is real. Is it? Who knows. So for now, I'm going to assume that it happened until its proven false. It's more fun that way." Rapunzel added.

"What was her name?" Anna asked.

"Uhm… Cat? Kat? Lemme think… I think its Katja, probably. That's what she called herself in the legend, but… She's kind of a spotty character, don't you think?" Rapunzel chuckled lightly. "Katja suits her, she's definitely kinda cat-like."

"She reminds me of that Robber, the one thats wanted? I saw her yesterday morning. She stole some limes." Anna said, innocently. Kristoff blinked and suddenly tensed, while Rapunzel looked overjoyed, yet simultaneously worried at Kristoff's reaction.

"Did she? You've seen her? Oh my gosh, how close did you get to her? I've always wanted to talk to her. I heard that if you're lucky, and you have something to trade her, she'll read your fortune." Rapunzel exclaimed gleefully.

"It's a scam." Kristoff grumbled. "She's a gypsy. She's gonna scam you out of your last coin." he growled to himself.

"Kristoff!" Rapunzel hissed. "That's a slur, she's Romani. And besides, I've heard her fortunes are never wrong."

"Maybe so, but I still don't trust her." Kristoff grumbled, nursing his beer and stewing over the conversation at hand. "She's probably a tramp as well as a thief."

"Kristoff!" the brunette hissed again, this time whacking him on the arm. "She's not a tramp, I know that much. As for being a thief, well, I could think of worse things to be."

"If you say so." Kristoff relented, swirling the beer in his mug. The tension was luckily cut short by Oaken, who returned with an expectant look in his eyes. Kristoff was the first to speak up. "Sauerbraten mit Spätzle, bitte."

"Ja, gut. Und du, Fraulein?" the big man said, looking at Rapunzel.

"Etwas Hühnerbrust und Salat, bitte." she added. Anna blanched as Oaken turned to look at her expectantly, awkwardly blurting out the first food name she was familiar with.

"I, uhm… Bratwurst?" she said sheepishly, cursing herself for the awkward pronunciation. Oaken nodded and smiled, allowing Anna to take in a soft breath as the man seemed satisfied with her answer. Anna sighed and took a sip of her water, sensing the obvious tension between Rapunzel and Kristoff at the mention of the robber. "I think I had a dream about a snow queen." Anna said, attempting to break the silence. Kristoff and Rapunzel simultaneously looked up at her, Rapunzel obviously more excited than Kristoff who simply looked a little confused.

"What happened in it?" Rapunzel asked eagerly.

"There was a girl, and she met with a witch. The witch told her to go find a Djinn encased in ice in order to defeat the snow queen. Are there any Djinn in that story about the painting?" Anna confessed.

"None that I know of. I think you've been reading a little too much of the Arabian Nights." Rapunzel chuckled. "But its weird that you had a dream like that."

"Maybe its because the countess could be a snow queen." Kristoff added lightly. Rapunzel rolled her eyes and swatted him lightly, the tension obviously dissipating from the table. Anna blinked and shrugged, looking down at her drink in front of her and mulling over the various questions she had in her head.

_Too much Arabian Nights, huh?_ she thought to herself.

* * *

><p>Elsa sat at her table, in the highest room of the uppermost floor, and gripped the edge of the desk in frustration, going over various papers. She shoved them up against the edge of the desk and the temperature in the room dropped several degrees more as she glanced into her mug of tea. The tea leaves at the bottom were frozen in place in a pile of slushy tea, but the outline was clear and it frustrated Elsa. She tore the silken gloves off her fingers, touching and breathing against her fingers, trying to recreate the peculiar sensation that Anna had lit within her.<p>

Anna.

_Anna._

The thought of the redhead brought a painful longing, and a disgusting hunger into Elsa. She knew that hunger well, but never to this extent. It repulsed her, nauseated her. She wanted to curl up into the blankets and cease to exist. _How unpleasant_, she thought sardonically to herself. The hunger she could bear, probably, though the sheer starvation she felt when in Anna's presence was ever so repulsive to her, it was still bearable. To an extent. Coupled with that unfamiliar longing, that terrifically foreign and unfamiliar longing, she had no idea how long she would last. How wonderful Anna smelled; the lingering smell of the redhead still remained on her body, and it nauseated and pleased her all at once. The hunger was getting to her, but nothing could sate her. Nothing except those ridiculous tea leaves that she put so much faith into. They cursed her from the bottom of that mug, however, and so she lay there on the bed, gazing up at the frosty ceiling and feeling quite sick and weak. She was starving. Such a gnawing hunger kept crawling into her very being; it was driving her insane.

"Lady Elsa?" came a voice from beyond the door.

"I'm awake, Gerda. You may come in." she sighed, sitting upright on her bed and wiping the peculiar sweat that formed on her brow despite the frigid temperature. The door hesitantly creaked open, and Gerda bowed slightly to the countess.

"Are you feeling alright? It's snowing downstairs, and I-... Oh my. You look awful." the maid gasped, moving forward to touch Elsa's forehead. "And you're burning up! Have you even fed yourself?"

"No." Elsa sighed, laying back against the bed and touching her cheek to the soft, cold pillow. "I haven't. Not for a while."

"Would you like some of m-"

"No!" Elsa hissed, pulling herself away from Gerda and tucking up at the further side of the bed. "I don't want anything. I simply wish to be alone."

"As you wish." Gerda replied. "Please do take care of yourself. Anna would be heartbroken." she said as she exited the room, slowly closing the door behind her.

"_Anna_" Elsa whispered to herself, tasting the name against the tip of her tongue and forcing herself into an uncomfortable slumber.


End file.
